Vol.  79    No.  14                                                                                                                JANUARY 2, 2002

 

 CALENDAR

 

MASSACHUSETTS PESTICIDE EXAM SCHEDULE

UMASS Eastern Extension Center—240 Beaver St., Waltham

JANUARY 17.  Deadline for submitting application is JANUARY 10. 

 

LOWEST APPLE HOLDINGS SINCE 1991 ANTICIPATED TO SEND PRICES HIGHER

 

By Tom Lister

 

                                The U.S. Apple Association reports Dec. 1 fresh-market apple holdings at 81.4 million bushels, the lowest since 1991, when holdings totaled 79.7 million.                     

                        “The holdings data confirm that supplies are down, and we should expect prices to be trending higher” as shippers market more controlled-atmosphere fruit, said Jim Cranney, the association’s vice president.

                        Larry Olsen, chairman of the Washington Apple Commission, cited rapid movement.

                        “I’m optimistic that we’re going to see increases in the prices of selected varieties,” he said.

                        All the same, despite strong movement to date, some shippers say markets haven’t risen to the levels they expected for this season’s light crop.

                        Market factors ahead could include the U.S. phytosanitary ban on Spanish clementines, which could create more shelf space and movement for U.S. apples, said John Rice, sales manager of Rice Fruit Co., Gardners, Pa.

                        Also, an action has been filed with the Mexican government to further limit imports of U.S. apples, Olsen said.

FRESH APPLE HOLDINGS

                                                1999                                         2000                                         2001

Northeast                     11.8 million                                8.9 million                                 8.5 million

Total U.S.                     91 million                                  95.8 million                                81.4 million

 

(Article from THE PACKER, Dec. 17, 2001)

 

APPLE GROWERS JOCKEY FOR ROOM IN EXPORT RACE

 

By Chris Koger

 

                                When apple shippers discuss their export sales, it’s a case of East meets West.

                        That’s the Eastern U.S. and Western U.S., to be specific,although Asian product are increasingly affecting global prices.  Growers say Washington and China’s crops influence eastern U.S. exports.  According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, China exported 14.96 million bushels of apples last season.

                        As Washington shippers explore new export markets to make up for business lost to China shippers, they’re displacing other domestic growers.

                        “Our export markets have contracted from pressure from Washington state,” said John Rice, sales manager at Rice Fruit Co., Pa.  “In the last 15 years, there have been years where we exported up to 25% of our product to Central and South America, but in the past few years, when Washington had big crops and their export markets in Asia were displaced, they shifted.”

                        Sandy Cohen, president of Cohen Produce Marketing, Pa., said exporters look at the big picture, and that includes both domestic and international production.

                        “I see the potential for pricing that will suit everybody this year, a pricing structure above subsistence,” Cohen said.  “When you look at the big picture, you’ll see the varietals out west will be down.  What (Washington) sold red delicious for last year, nobody made any money, and that depressed every other shipping area.

                        “Exports will play a major role in all this by taking care of the overflow,” he said.  “Some of the other countries like China have nibbled away at the export market, and that’s what would have taken some of the overflow in the past…If the West coast is down on red delicious as they’re talking about, I see that as an opportunity for East coast apples.”

                        Overall exports have increased in the past two decades, but world oversupply continues to make some areas a hard sell.

                        “Exports have become a good portion of the business, maybe 15%,” said Tony Maresca, sales manager at Stanley Orchard Sales, Inc. N.Y.  “Europe is a good base.  The Caribbean and South America—they’re more price susceptible if Washington pushes into those markets with cheap apples.”

                        Fred Hess, president of Hess Bros., Fruit Co., Pa agreed.

                        “We don’t consider ourselves to be a big exporter, but we do export and find that the market is very much driven by the Washington crop,” Hess said.

                        Rice and others say an expected 20% drop in Washington’s production from last year bodes well for international as well as domestic accounts.

                        The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program allocated the apple industry almost $3 million this year.  It is a matching fund program that gives growers and shippers a boost in international marketing and promotion campaigns in more than 20 countries, including Mexico, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Taiwan and countries in Latin America.

                        According to the U.S. Apple Association, one out of four fresh apples packed in U.S. facilities are sent to export markets, generating about $400 million for U.S. producers annually.  U.S. apple exports have increased 49% since the MAP funds first went to the apple industry in 1986.  The apple industry has received $51 million in MAP funds since that time.

                        For some shippers, meeting the needs of retailers in other countries starts on the packing line.

                        Ned O’Neill, sales manager of J.P. Sullivan & Co., Ayer, Mass., said the company has exported since right after World War II, and export markets include Ireland and the United Kingdom.

                        “It has slowed down over the past few years.  We’ve had larger apples the last few years, and the exports tend to favor the smaller apples,” O’Neill said.  “We’ve seen a bit of decline, but that’s a factor of the crop.”

                        Henry Chiles, owner of Crown Orchard Co., Va., said his company ships to the Caribbean, Latin America and South America and that there are plans to expand to Mexico in coming years.

                        “China has definitely had a dramatic effect.  The juice price is kind of the base line of the industry, and when that’s low, you can kind of figure the fresh market will be lower,” Chiles said.  “We’ve got to get the supply and demand equation to equal out.  With the tremendous amount of product from China, that’s got to be considered.”

(Article from THE PACKER, November 19, 2001)

 

U.S. GRADES FOR APPLES

APPLE CEDAR RUST

                        This disease occurs in practically all apple-growing sections of the Eastern and Central United States.  It usually appears on the calyx end of the fruit as grayish yellow to yellow slightly raised areas that are usually 1/8 to ¾ of an inch in diameter and may extend into the flesh 1/8 to ½ inch or more to the core.  The surface of the spot may be smooth, or it may be roughened with the spore producing bodies of the fungus.  The flesh beneath the spots is woody and usually greenish in color.

                        AMOUNT ALLOWED:

                                    U.S. Extra Fancy           3/16” diameter

                                    U.S. Fancy                    ¼” diameter

                                    U.S. No. 1                     ¼” diameter

                                    Utility                            ¾” diameter

                       

APPLE SHIPMENT TRACKING

Source:  USDA

Amounts are shown in units of 10,000 pounds

 

 

MID-WEEK F.O.B. PRICES AT MASSACHUSETTS COUNTRY SHIPPING POINT

Prices and grades received by telephone, January 2, 2002

No Change

VARIETY	GRADE	SIZE	PRICE
McINTOSH	Cartons Cell Pack U.S. Extra Fancy	80s	19.00
		96s	18.50
	Cartons Film Bags U.S. Fancy	12-3s 2-1/2” min	12.50
	Cartons Tote Bags U.S. Fancy	8-5s 2-1/2” min	14.00
CORTLAND	Cartons Cell Pack U.S. Extra Fancy	72s & 80s	18.00
	Cartons Film Bags U.S. Fancy	12-3s 2-1/2” min	12.50
	Cartons Tote Bags U.S. Fancy	8-5s 2-1/2” min	14.00
EMPIRE	Cartons Cell Pack U.S. Extra Fancy	80s	18.00
		96s	17.50
	Cartons Film Bags U.S. Fancy	12-3s 2-1/2” min	11.50
	Cartons Tote Bags U.S. Fancy	8-5s 2-1/2” min	13.00
RED DELICIOUS	Cartons Tray Pack U.S. Extra Fancy	80s & 88s	13.50
	Cartons Film Bags U.S. Fancy	12-3s 2-1/2” min	11.00
	Cartons Tote Bags U.S. Fancy	8-5s 2-1/2” min	13.00
FEDERAL MARKET NEWS SERVICE, EVERETT, MASS. DECEMBER 31, 2001
NEW ENGLAND
McINTOSH	Cartons Cell Pack U.S. Extra Fancy	80s	18.00-19.00 mostly 19.00
		96s & 100s	18.00-19.00
	Cartons Cell Pack U.S. No. 1	80s	9.00-  9.50
		100s	10.00
		120s	9.00
		140s	9.00-  9.50
	Cartons Film Bags U.S. No. 1	12-3s 2-3/8” min	9.50
CORTLAND	Cartons Cell Pack U.S. Extra Fancy	80s	18.00
	Cartons Cell Pack U.S. No. 1	80s & 96s	13.00-15.00
	Cartons Film Bags U.S. Extra Fancy	12-3s 2-3/8” min	12.00
SHIPPED IN
McINTOSH	NY Hudson Valley Ctns CelPk U.S.ExFcy	80s & 100s	19.00
	Lake Champlain Cartons CelPk U.S. ExFcy	80s, 96s, 100s	19.00
	NY Hudson Valley Ctns CelPk U.S. Fcy	100s, 120s, 140s	9.00-10.00
	Lake Champlain Ctns CelPk U.S. Fcy	100s	11.00
		120s & 140s	9.50
	Lake Champlain Ctns FlmBg U.S. ExFcy	12-3s 2-1/2” min	12.00
CORTLAND	Lake Champlain Ctns CelPk Combination U.S. Extra Fancy-U.S. Fancy	80s	19.00
EMPIRE	NY Hudson Valley Ctns CelPk U.S. Fcy	80s	19.00
	NY Hudson Valley Ctns FlmBg U.S. ExFcy	12-3s 2-1/2” min	12.00
RED DELICIOUS	WA Cartons Tray Pack WAExFcy	64s	16.00-19.00 mostly 17.00-18.00 fine appear 19.00-22.00
		72s, 80s, 88s	16.00-19.00 mostly 17.00-18.00 fine appear. 18.00-22.00
		100s	16.00-19.00 mostly 17.00-18.00 fine appear 19.00-20.00
		113s & 125s	16.00-18.00 mostly 16.00-17.00
	NY Hudson Valley Ctns FlmBgs U.S. ExFcy	12-3s 2-1/2” min	12.00
	WA Cartons Film Bags WAExFcy	12-3s 2-1/2” min	17.00
GOLDEN DELICIOUS	WA Cartons Tray Pack WAExFcy	64s	23.00-24.00
		72s	21.00-23.00 mostly 22.00-23.00
		80s	20.00-23.00 mostly 22.00
		88s	19.50-22.00 mostly 21.00-22.00
		100s	19.50-21.00 mostly 20.00-21.00
		113s	19.00-20.00
		125s	18.00
	WA Cartons Cell Pack WAExFcy	80s	26.50
		88s	21.00
		96s	24.00
	NY Hudson Valley Ctns FlmBg U.S. ExFcy	12-3s 2-1/2” min	12.00
	WA Cartons Film Bags WAExFcy	12-3s 2-1/2” min	19.00