Orchardists across the region are anticipating a good apple harvest this year as several varieties begin to be picked.
September is the traditional kickoff for apple picking, cider donuts and hay rides at local orchards.
New York Apple Association President and CEO Cynthia Haskins notes that the apple harvest in New York actually began about the third week in August as early season varieties ripened.
“Each week more and more varieties are ready to be harvested. So we are looking at a good crop. We’re looking at about 32 million bushels. That’s up from last year. It’s on par with the three-year average. And we’re looking for a good range of sizes. Now we have had some hot weather. We haven’t had this hot weather all of the time, that’s the good news. So we have a good range of sizes. We will also have some smaller sizes coming from the growers who may not have had irrigation. A lot of our growers now-a-days do, so that’s what gives us the good range of sizes.”
Cornell Cooperative Extension Regional Tree Fruit Specialist Michael Basedow works out of Peru, New York. He expects production to vary across the state.
“Most of the state is in a bit of a drought so we are expecting that fruit size is going to be down because of that. And with that also I expect yield to be a little bit down as well. But interestingly enough here in Clinton County we’re one of the few counties in the apple producing regions of New York where we really had adequate, if not above average, rainfall this summer. So we’re expecting to have a fairly large harvest this year as opposed to around the rest of the state. I believe the Hudson Valley is being fairly affected by that drought. So I think they’ll be down. And then western New York, where the bulk of our production really is, I think they’re going to be close to average or maybe a little bit down as well.”
Across Lake Champlain at Hackett’s Orchards in South Hero, Vermont, Orchard Manager Devin Hackett is preparing to open to the public on Saturday. He says their apples are looking very good especially with recent rains helping the crop.
“We I would say were right on the edge of drought conditions. We would like to see an inch of rain a week. I don’t think we got an inch of rain in the whole month of July or August. But we did get rain, and it always came right at the edge of when it was starting to become critical. So far we are seeing great size and color and with this recent rain we just received later varieties will benefit greatly. It’s surprising how that rain will give them an extra shot and really help us through the remainder of the growing period, especially for the later varieties, the Empires, that won’t get harvested until the first or second week of October. It will give them an extra boost.”
According to the New York Apple Association the state is the nation’s second-largest producer with more than 600 orchards across the state.
