RICHLAND, Wash. – Northwest apple growers expect a bumper crop this year in combination with higher prices. But farmers are worried they won’t have enough workers to pick the apples at peak ripeness.
This year -– if nothing huge happens Mother Nature wise -– Northwest growers should be able to ripen a lot of fruit. But there’s been a workers shortage -- in part because of border enforcement.
That’s the case in the Washington asparagus harvest right now –- which is usually an indicator for later crops. Jon DeVaney heads the Yakima Valley Growers and Shippers Association. He says leaving apples on trees would be a shame this year, because higher prices are expected.
“The fact that there is the potential for a large crop has people more worried about that from a labor perspective than from a pricing perspective.”
Northwest apple farmers have been producing more fruit in the last few years because newly-planted acreage is coming into full production. The newer types of apple trees are also more productive.
Copyright 2012 Northwest Public Radio
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