The New York apple industry is waiting anxiously to find out the full extent of hail damage across the state in the last two months.
Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association, said it has not been possible to make accurate assessments of the impact of the storms that first hit New York on June 10 and have continued to arrive sporadically through the rest of June and July.
“We had a great bloom and a great crop was on the trees state-wide,” he told freshinfo. “Sizing was looking good and the industry was very optimistic.”
That has not changed for everyone, he added, although one of the worst affected growers said his frost-affected orchard looked like someone had taken a shotgun to it. “For the worst hit growers, they have lost their entire crop, but some growers were able to thin out after the early damage and technological advances in the state in recent years mean that post-harvest handling and sorting will ensure there is a good volume of marketable fruit available.
“I think there will be a reduction in volume, but we are waiting to see what we get at harvest, and it will largely be down to the individual marketers what proportion of their fruit is deemed fit for market. Depending on sizing and grading, the volumes may not change as all that much.
A lot of other things are very encouraging, said Allen. “Demand is very good domestically and we have had a very good four or five years of growth in the UK for Empire. We shipped 5,000 to 6,000 units into the UK in May last year, and to go as late as that into the season is always encouraging. We remain committed to that, and I would not expect there to be a shortage of fruit for UK customers.”
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