Niagara Falls, NY
By Eric Anderson
4.26.13
Despite facing severe weather complications last year, New York apples are anticipated to be in good supply this season.
An early heat wave last March, coupled with a late frost in April decimated many of the early-blooming buds in New York orchards, according to the Niagara Gazette.
Glenn Sanger, owner of Sanger Farms in Youngstown, called his apple season last year “a disaster.”
Jim Allen, the president of the New York Apple Association, said unlike last year, this state’s apple crop this year is right on schedule and he anticipates a normal year of production.This year’s weather is following more typical patterns, unlike last year’s very early spring, he said.
“We were even closed this winter the first time in 35 years,” Sanger continued. “We usually have 300 to 400 20-bushel tubs (of apples) and last year we had nine 20-bushel tubs.”
Allen called last year’s crop the worst the state has seen since 1945.
“Close to 60 percent of our crop was lost,” he said. “The biggest loss came in the fresh market apples that you see in grocery stores and farmer markets.”
The apples that did survive the late frost weren’t good enough for the fresh market, so they were diverted to the processing market to make juice and applesauce, which isn’t as lucrative for farmers, Allen said.
This year, the weather been cooperative and things seem to be back on track.
“It’s been cold right up through now,” Sanger said. “Now when they come up in blossom, they’ll keep on growing. It looks good right now.”
Allen said he’s very optimistic, but warned the apple growing season is a long one and he can’t predict what might happen in later months.
“So far this season is textbook perfect,” Allen added.
