The U.S. Apple Association recently conducted a harvest wrap-up webinar following its comprehensive Apple holdings report which was released on December 1. Chris Gerlach, the director of industry analytics at USApple, revealed that the total apple holding figure stands at approximately 190 million bushels, with 140 million bushels dedicated to fresh apples and 51 million to processing.

Comparing this to the November 2014-15 season, Gerlach highlighted a parallel total holding size, with an increase in fresh crop production. Washington state significantly contributed to the year-over-year growth, marking a 38% increase, equivalent to 42 million bushels and constituting 90% of the total U.S. growth.

New York State followed suit with a 44% year-over-year increase, accounting for 10% of national growth. Major apple varieties include Honeycrisp, Gala, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, and Fuji, comprising 76% of total apple holdings. Cosmic Crisp experienced a substantial 41% year-over-year growth, with 9.5 million bushels harvested.

Gerlach noted a modest 13% increase in apple prices since 2020, contrasting with a substantial 30% rise in the cost to grow apples since 2020. Gerlach posits that a modification in export dynamics constitutes a significant factor contributing to the high amount of apples in holding at this point of the year. U.S. apple exports have been trending downward.

“We’ll do our best to get back, but domestic demand will not be sufficient,” Gerlach says, referring to moving the apples in holding. “We’re way up over last season and looking for new contacts and re-formalizing those contacts lost in the off years.”