Good Fruit Grower received the following news release from Washington State Tree Fruit Association President Jon DeVaney:

Today, the Washington State Tree Fruit Association issued its Nov. 1 Apple Storage Reports to its members. With apple harvest mostly completed, this report shows how closely the actual harvested crop compares with the estimate published in August.

This November report shows a projected Washington apple crop of 138.2 million fresh packed boxes, up slightly from the 137.3 forecast in August. Although late season cold weather decreased totals for some later harvested varieties, larger totals on earlier varieties and excellent quality that is contributing to strong packouts kept the projected overall fresh crop very close to the earlier forecast.

As always, these numbers are likely to be adjusted slightly in December as the last few orchards complete harvest and as packers have more data on which to project season-long packouts. However, it is clear that the 2019 apple crop is showing excellent eating quality which is being reflected in strong weekly shipment numbers.

Top 6 Varieties Projections:
Gala – 23.5%
Red Del. – 19.7%
Fuji – 13.1%
Granny Smith – 12.8%
Honeycrisp – 12.5%
Golden Del. – 5.5%