Michigan’s apple crop

Michigan’s apple growers will harvest nearly 29 million bushels of apples this year, according to the official crop estimate announced Friday at the USApple Outlook meeting in Chicago. Officials say the 28.74 million bushels estimate is in line with the 2013 crop, which was a record size crop of 30 million bushels. Diane Smith, executive director of the Michigan Apple Committee, says many factors have contributed to this large crop. She notes that great weather this past spring and summer, including cool nights, plenty of rain as well as a good amount of sunshine certainly helped. The predicted crop size would be one of the largest apple crops Michigan has seen. Last year, the state broke records with the 30 million bushel crop. Michigan is the second largest producer of apples in the United States, behind the state of Washington. (MRN)