Apples in Washington State

Washington produces about 42% of the apples grown in the United States, and 60% of those grown for fresh consumption. Bearing apple acreage in Washington is estimated at about 192,000 acres, about 8,000 acres of apple orchards are non-bearing. During 1997-2001, production averaged about 123,000,000 Bushels, with an average of 86,200,000 packed boxes sold as fresh, and 29,000,000 bushels (boxes) processed yearly. (Bushel = about 44 lbs-20Kg.) Value of Washington apples as sold as fresh or processed product is estimated at about $1.2 billion yearly. From 28 to 35 percent of the crop is exported yearly, with major markets in the Asian Pacific Rim, Canada, Mexico, and South America.

Cost to produce an acre of apples is about $4800 to $6600, depending on a number of common orchard variables. Greatest expenses are labor for picking, pruning and hand fruit thinning. Packing and marketing costs an additional $4,200 to 5,000 per average acre of production, about half of which is labor costs.

The average break-even price for a box of apples averages about $13.50, though this number varies greatly, depending on production, fruit quality, and variety. It costs about $6.50 to $8.50 to store and pack a box of fruit. The range in cost is due to the great variability in the time it takes to sort and pack fruit caused by varietal and quality differences. In 2000, the industry received an average of $11.97 per box sold, but only about $10 for the more common varieties.

Production Regions

The major production regions are East of the Cascade Mountains, in the North Central to South Central areas of the State. The three primary apple production regions are the Yakima Valley, with 62,000 acres, the North Central (Wenatchee) district, 57,000 acres, and the Columbia Basin, which contains about 45,000 acres of apples. Minor production areas include the Greenbluff area North of Spokane, and the region around Mt. Vernon, in the Northwestern corner of the State. Earliness and length of growing season varies greatly. Orchards in the Lower Columbia Basin and lower Yakima Valley (650-850 ft. above sea level) bloom as much as three or four weeks before those at highest elevations (3000 ft.) in North Central Washington. Warmer, long-season areas are best suited to varieties such as Pink Lady and Granny Smith, while the more moderate and cooler regions are famous for their ability to produce any variety of apple, especially those valued for their red color.
Varieties

Red Delicious predominates production, constituting about 40 percent of the packed crop in 2001. This is down from 69 percent of the crop in 1990. Golden Delicious is second in order, with 15 percent, then Fuji (14%), Gala and Granny Smith (12% each), with the remaining seven percent made up in order of Braeburn, Jonagold, Pink Lady, Cameo, and other lesser varieties. Fuji is expected overtake Golden Delicious production in the year 2004; and Gala production is rapidly increasing, perhaps in line to become number two or three in production sometime during the next decade.

Red Delicious	Golden Delicious	Granny Smith
Fuji	Gala	Cameo

Post Harvest

About 100 packing houses store, sort, box and ship Washington Apples almost all 12 months of the year. Packing houses range in size, some capable of packing about 5-7 million boxes per season, others may pack as few as 300,000. Ownership may be private, or cooperative, with as many as 400 grower member/owners. About 35 percent of the fruit is harvested late and kept in common storage to be sold in the Fall and early Winter. The remainder is stored under low-oxygen controlled atmosphere, and is shipped from December until September the next year. Most fruit is treated with a fungicide drench (thiabendazole) prior to storage to reduce fruit rots, especially those caused by Penicillium and Botrytis species. Thiabendazole is not extremely effective, and losses to fruit rots may be excessive during some storage seasons. There are no alternative products registered for post-harvest fruit rots. Experiments utilizing newly developed biocontrol agents have not led to commercially acceptable control.

Diphenylamine (DPA) is applied with the fungicide drench to fruit that is susceptible to a disorder that causes the browning of the skin in storage (storage scald) rendering the fruit unsaleable. A newly registered product (MCP) may greatly reduce the percentage of the crop treated with DPA over the next few years. Organic fruit does not have any chemicals applied in storage, which decreases the marketing season by about one-half, as well as increasing losses from scald and fruit rots.

Cultural Practices

Orchard systems: Older apple orchards are most often the Red or Golden Delicious variety planted about 110 trees to the acre. Each tree is about 18 feet wide, and 14 feet high, which makes pruning, spraying, hand fruit thinning, and picking difficult and labor intensive. These trees are highly productive, and are being removed only when the varieties are no longer profitable. The rate of removal and orchard replanting has greatly increased in the 1990's, and especially in 1998 and 1999. Newer orchards are more likely to be varieties such as Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Braeburn, Cameo, or any apple variety that promises reasonable economic returns to the grower. Most of these new varieties are more sensitive to diseases such as powdery mildew and fire blight than the varieties they replaced. These new orchards are usually planted more intensively, on dwarfing rootstock, supported by a trellis, and planted with 600 to 1000 or more trees per acre. Production starts in the second season after planting, and full production may be attained in the fourth year of growth. "Non-bearing" pesticide labels now usually relate only to the season of planting. Trees in this intensive style of orchard are usually about 6 feet wide and 10 feet tall, which eases labor and improves spray material coverage. As sprayed product rates are usually set in relation to very large trees, growers and advisors often question how specific product rates must be adjusted to relate to the lighter foliage and superior coverage common in trellised blocks.

Fruit thinning: Fruit must be thinned every Spring to assure yearly production and allow for acceptable fruit quality. Chemical thinners are used during and shortly after the bloom period to prevent fruit set, or to remove fruit that will set in clusters. The remainder of the thinning is done by hand during June and early July , with crews spending about 25-60 hours of labor per acre removing poor quality, insect or disease damaged, or too-closely spaced fruit.

Irrigation: Washington apples are grown in a moderate, marine influence, desert climate, where the scant rainfall occurs in the winter months. The dry, sunny growing season weather gives growers the advantage of low disease pressure, but requires them to irrigate regularly during the growing season. The average orchard requires about 3.5 acre feet of water per season, most of which must be applied during mid-Summer, when mountain snow-melt maintains plentiful stream flows. The total of all crop irrigation in the Pacific Northwest states constitutes less than five percent of the available Columbia River watershed water supply. Only the smallest streams are significantly reduced in flow volume (in the late summer) by irrigation water withdrawl. Irrigation, at times, complicates pest management by triggering disease infection in specific blocks, or removing protectant materials too soon after application. Over-irrigation constitutes a leaching potential for nitrates or other easily-leached products applied to the orchard. (More Information)

Tree nutrition: The most common fertilizer used in Washington apples is nitrogen. Over-use of nitrogen causes serious fruit quality degradation, so is rare. Most growers apply between 0 and 60 pounds of actual N per season, the rate dependant on appearance of the trees, fruit, and leaf analysis. The desert soils in the region also have very little available Zinc or Boron. Most other major mineral nutrients are common in the soil, and specific deficiencies of potassium, copper, and phosphorus may be treated if found to be necessary by soil and foliage tests.

Orchard renovation: Orchards are replaced about every 30-35 years, as varieties become less popular, or trees are excessively damaged by severe winters. It costs about $12,000-17,000 to renovate an acre of orchard. Changing orchards to new varieties may lead to poor economic returns due to Specific Replanting Disease unless the soil is carefully fumigated prior to replanting. This replanting problem is especially serious in the older production regions where "family farms" predominate. (More Information about replanting)

Organic Production

Low disease pressure from apple scab, and the absence of some key pests, such as Plum Curculio and Apple Maggot, allow Washington growers to produce apples under organic methods relatively successfully. The key pest, Codling Moth, forced many potential growers out of organic production, until pheromone confusion and proper timing of Summer oil sprays brought the pest under better control. Despite improved control materials, this pest continues to be the key insect problem in organic orchards.

In order to sell fruit as organically produced, growers must pay Washington State Department of Agriculture inspection fees, and maintain their orchard under approved organic production methods for at least three years. The transition period is a financial hardship, as fruit must be sold as conventional label, though cost of production is often significantly increased by following organic production methods. This is the major impediment to growers who might wish to try organic production.

About 2.16 million boxes of organic apples were sold through conventional market channels in 2001. As of 2000, 4200 acres of apples were fully certified as organic, and another 4000 acres were in transition to organic. This is an increase from 1800 acres of certified organic apples in 1997. Production of organic Washington apples is projected to more than double by the year 2004. If present production doubles, organic apples will make up about four percent of Washington Apple production. If this production increase occurs, the 1997 $5-10/box average price advantage of organic vs. conventional is expected to diminish significantly. The adoption of non-conventional soil, tree nutrient and pest management practices is reported by organic growers to be significantly more expensive and labor intensive than conventional production methods. If market prices do not support organic production methods, many growers may be forced to leave the program.

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