06/20/05 Cleaning up the apple crop

06/20/05 Cleaning up the apple crop

When last year's projections for the 2004 apple crop came in big, they came in big alright. Currently, the crop volume sits at 103.2 million boxes. That is compared with the over seventy-eight million boxes from the 2003 crop. Needless to say, that has meant some good deals for those who regularly purchase apples, but potentially, not so good profit news for growers. According to noted economist Desmond O'Rourke, estimated revenues for growers this year could be down as much as twenty to thirty per cent from the previous year. However, according to Dan Kelly of the Washington Growers Clearing House, movement of the remaining 2004 crop has benefited from some recent developments. One example is the resumption of trade of two big export markets previously closed. KELLY: One being Taiwan, due to some coddling moth problem in Oregon, Washington, and California. That has been solved so that market has been reopened. Temporarily, the Mexico tariff has been dropped for Reds and Golden Delicious, so we're seeing an increase in movement to Mexico. Other markets have opened up for U.S. apples but Kelly says it is from the standpoint that they attraction to those markets have been the lower prices of our apples this year. And while the start of cherry season usually means a slow down in apple movements, Kelly says the apple industry has benefited from a smaller than usual cherry crop from California.
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