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Ontario Apple
Growers Newsletter - July 15, 2005
IN THIS
ISSUE
Labeling Yellow Apples | Safety
Nets Update - CAIS Program Deposit Requirement | Ontario
Apple Marketing Survey - Reminder
Storage Holdings | Juice Apple
Holdings | Outstanding Acreage Fee Accounts
| Canadian Crop Outlook | US
Crop Outlook
Labeling Yellow Apples
Progress has been made on dealing with the labeling
issue on yellow apples. Work is in progress whereby Golden
Delicious and strains of Golden Delicious including Ginger
Gold, Golden Supreme, Smoothee, Goldspur, Honey Gold, Gibson
Golden, Reinders Golden, Silken and Goldrush may be labeled
either on their own (where PLU and UPC codes exist) or marketed
as Golden Delicious. If this can be accomplished it will go
a long way towards dealing with the problems encountered in
2004. We thank CFIA for their cooperation on this important
issue. >>BACK TO
TOP
Safety Nets Update
- CAIS Deposit
The industry has been successful in convincing governments
that their requirement for a producer deposit was not in the
best interests of producers or the government. There is agreement
that the deposit requirement will be replaced with an annual
fee of .45% of the producer's reference margin i.e. if a producer
has a $100,000 reference margin, the producer would be required
to pay a fee of $450 to secure CAIS Program coverage. Likely,
this will start by March 30 th , 2006. Other improvements
in the delivery and protocols including inventory valuation
are under discussion. In Ontario, producers are encouraging
OMAFRA that they should institute an Interim Withdrawal system.
>>BACK TO TOP
Ontario Apple Marketing
Survey (2004 Crop) - Reminder
By now all OAG members have received a copy of the
2004 crop survey. The OAG urges all growers to complete the
survey and return it a.s.a.p. These numbers will be very important
to the OAG when addressing the income crisis in the Ontario
and Canadian apple industries as well as the Dumping Challenge
against Washington State apples. >>BACK
TO TOP
Storage Holdings
The July
1st storage holding reports are attached. This in important
information for decision making purposes, unfortunately, there
are storage holdings in the Hamilton/Niagara area that are
not included as the storage operators/growers have failed
to submit their information. The OAG encourages all operators
and growers to comply and share in the benefits of this important
information.
>>BACK TO TOP
Juice Apple Holdings
During a recent meeting of the Juice Apple Negotiating
Committee the OAG learned that there are still large quantities
of juice apples still available in Ontario. This was disturbing
in as much as processors have been importing U.S. apples for
juice while they could have used Ontario apples. They have
since discontinued imports and are doing their best to clean
up the Ontario apples before new crop. If you have juice apples
available, you are encouraged to advise the processors. There
doesn't seem to be any advantage is holding back thinking
that the price will increase. The OAG thanks the processors
for their efforts to more the remaining inventories.
>>BACK TO TOP
Outstanding Acreage
Fee Accounts
The Board extends their appreciation to all those
who have reported and paid their 2005 acreage fees. It is
encouraging that so many apple growers support the efforts
of the OAG and are finding value in the Board's initiatives
on their behalf. Unfortunately, not all growers have complied
by the June 30 th deadline. The Board has developed the following
strategy to ensure equity amongst all members:
- All growers outstanding as of July 1 st
will be sent a reminder.
- All accounts still outstanding as of July
31 st will be charged interest at the rate of 1 ½%
per month.
- A list of all growers outstanding as of
July 31 st will be circulated to the processors and packers
and they will be asked to deduct the outstanding amounts
from their payments to these producers.
- All growers who have still not paid their
2004 fees and who do not market through processors or packers
will be submitted to a collection agency for collection
(the good news is that this only accounts for about 8 growers).
- Legal actions will be undertaken as required.
>>BACK TO TOP
Canadian Crop Outlook
- 2005
This is very preliminary but it appears that the
Ontario crop (baring hail damage) will be up (back to normal).
The question is what's normal? The 2004 crop is estimated
at about 8.5 million bushels. For now I figure a normal crop
is 10 million bushels. Hopefully the 2005 crop estimates and
the GPS/GIS mapping will help the industry to develop new
benchmarks.
This includes the affects of winter kill
to some tender varieties (Mutsu and Gala). The Quebec crop
(although affected by winter freeze in some areas) will be
about normal, the Atlantic Canada crop appears normal and
the B.C. crop is expected to come back with a good crop. In
all cases, the volume will be affected by the amount of precipitation
between now and harvest. >>BACK
TO TOP
US Crop Outlook -
2005
(Excerpt from USApple Market News, vol. 10, #9,
July 2005)
Apple growers across the country are expecting a strong
crop in 2005, with overall U.S. production projected below
the 2004 harvest, according to an informal survey of the major
growing regions conducted by the U.S. Apple Association. Following
is a snapshot of crop conditions in select regions.
- Washington
Washington is expecting a normal sized crop. Many
areas had early season frosts and lacked the water to protect
the trees during frost. Some of the king bloom was lost
and Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Fuji had spotty
return bloom. Granny Smith and Braeburn had good return
bloom. The Gala crop is expected to be normal. The crop
is maturing later than last year, but fruit size will be
good. The drought has not impacted the crop yet but could
if temperatures turn hot. Irrigation water normally used
for cooling will not be as available this year.
- New York
New York's apple crop is expected to be about 85
to 90 percent of the size of last year's crop. Some early
season frost damage appeared in certain areas. June drop
was heavier than expected due to thinning in higher than
normal temperatures. The pollination period ran longer than
is desirable for some varieties.
- Michigan
Michigan growers had favorable weather conditions
during bloom, pollination, fruit set and thinning. Some
areas experienced some early-season loss due to frost. Michigan
is expecting the 2005 harvest to be larger than 2004.
- Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania and the Appalachian region are expecting
a normal crop. Early conditions were good and frost damage
was minimal. June was drier than normal and fruit size could
be reduced if dry conditions persist.
- California
A cool spring helped the crop develop with low
levels of stress. Good conditions persisted through fruit
set and sizing, and good fruit size is anticipated. The
Granny Smith crop will be up by 10 percent with other varieties
on track for a normal crop. Harvest should begin at the
end of July.
- New England
New England's apple crop varies considerably depending
upon location. The size of the region's crop appears to
be close to or slightly under that of last year. Pollination
and fruit set varied depending upon weather conditions in
the different areas with the northern and southern areas
of New England experiencing better weather conditions during
bloom. June drop was high in some areas. The summer weather
has been mostly cool and rainy, with some intermittent days
of high temperatures. No hail damage has been reported.
>>BACK TO TOP
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