The Northwest pear industry has been buffered from several angles this season, with a number of different factors making life tough for exporters.
The ongoing Russian fresh produce ban had a major impact, closing a market that took on nearly 500,000 boxes of the fruit in the 2013/14 campaign.
Coupled with the impact of a labour dispute on shipments moving through US west coast ports and the strength of the dollar, it has made for a sluggish season, with exports down 13 per cent year-on-year at 5.7m boxes by the end of May, the Good Fruit Grower reported.
Jeff Correa of the Pear Bureau Northwest told the publication that the coming season's prospects could largely depend on whether the Russian market is reopened or not, a move that could be decided in August.
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