31 Million Cartons of Apples To Be Harvested This Fall, States NYAA
FISHERS, NY - New York City isn’t the only Big Apple in town. In fact, the entire state of New York is worthy of the name, based on the New York Apple Association’s (NYAA) recent fall harvest estimate. NYAA forecasts New York apple growers will produce 31 million cartons (42 lbs each) of apples this fall, an estimate that is up slightly over last year and on par with the state’s five-year average.
“New York apple lovers know our apples taste great, but what they may not realize is just how big our state industry is in the larger picture,” President Cynthia Haskins said in a company press release. “New York is the second largest apple producing state in the nation, and the largest east of the Mississippi—but that’s not all. Our distinctive flavor gives us a competitive advantage and it is produced by the ideal growing conditions in New York which are unique to our state.”
The association noted that apple production in New York takes place on 41,000 acres spanning the state, where hundreds of varieties are grown. Although a diverse array of these varieties can be found at retail, many are only available at farmers markets. Those varieties found at retail include the New York McIntosh, Empire, Cortland, Honeycrisp, and Gala, as well as new managed varieties like SweeTango® and the two ‘exclusive to New York’ varieties, RubyFrost® and SnapDragon®.
To encourage New Yorkers to enjoy all the apple industry the Empire State has to offer, NYAA maintains a locator map on its website, www.nyapplecountry.com, which finds orchards, you-pick operations and cideries by zip code.
Throughout the autumn season, NYAA will be engaging with customers with pop-up exhibits at Green Markets throughout New York City in September and October. The organization is also sponsoring the Big Apple Crunch, a statewide event involving public schools—and millions of New Yorkers—all biting into a New York Apple at precisely 2 p.m. on Thursday, October 25. NYAA partners with the FarmOn! Foundation to support the event and recently distributed a variety of posters to 780 school districts throughout the state to raise awareness around New York apples and apple products.
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