Q2 2024
Q2 2024 |
01/05
USApple facilitates Research Outing with EPA & USDA
In April, Rod Snyder, the Senior Advisor for Agriculture to the EPA Administrator, visited USDA’s Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, WV at the invitation of USApple. Jim Bair and Mitchell Liwanag from USApple attended the tour, as well as Virginia grower and USApple Board Member, Philip Glaize III, and West Virginia apple grower, Don Dove.
The group discussed important climate-related apple research being conducted at the station. Projects include carbon sequestration in orchards, root architecture and implications for healthy trees, and rapid apple decline. USApple continues to work with EPA to ensure they understand the realities and challenges of the apple industry. Getting federal officials in front of growers and researchers is a great educational opportunity.
We sent a press release announcing the visit on saw press pick-up in these trade outlets:
- Fruit Growers News: EPA, USApple tour USDA Appalachian Fruit Research Station
- American Ag Network: EPA’s Senior Agriculture Advisor Visits Fruit Tree Research Station with USApple and Growers
- Fresh Plaza: EPA’s senior agriculture advisor visits Fruit Tree Research Station with growers
- Perishable News: EPA’s Senior Agriculture Advisor Visits Fruit Tree Research Station with USApple and Growers
L to R: Andrew Bierer (USDA Research Soil Scientist), Rod Snyder (EPA), Phillip Glaize III (Grower).
L to R: Lisa Tang (USDA Research Horticulturist) describing ongoing root research, Tracy Leskey (USDA Supervisory Research Entomologist), Rod Snyder (EPA).
USApple, Rod Snyder, growers, and researchers in front of the research station.
Q2 2024 |
02/05
Apples4Ed Winners Selected
USApple awarded Apples4Ed grants to five schools from around the nation for the 2023-24 school year. Each $5,000 grant will support initiatives that expose students to a wider variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and teach students about healthy eating.
The five winning schools are:
- Coral Reef Senior High School: Miami, FL
- Hoover Elementary: Yakima, WA
- Throop Elementary: Paoli, IN
- Pine Haven Elementary: Jamestown, TN
- Trailridge Elementary: Lee’s Summit, MO
USApple’s Apple4Ed committee juried over 45 applications to select the winners based on the level of creativity, longevity, student impact, logistics, and community involvement of the program. Thanks to the committee for their hard work! Read more about each winner here.
Pine Haven Elementary students and teachers celebrate their Apples4Ed grant, with apples!
Trailridge Elementary students celebrate their Apples4Ed grant with the Garden Club advisor, Dan.
Coral Reef High Senior High School Ag students flanked by the Principal, Nicole Bergé-MacInnes (left), and Career & Tech Ed Supervisor for Agri-science, Angela Darling-Miller (right).
Q2 2024 |
03/05
NextGen Launches T-Shirt Sale for Class Project
The 2024 NextGen Apple Fellows chose to design and sell t-shirts for their class project, with all proceeds feeding back into the NextGen program – supporting the development of future industry leaders. The theme of the shirts is to promote eating more apples – a cause the industry has been excited to get behind this year.
Gear up and give back – if you’re going to Outlook, order your shirt today for pickup in Chicago! If your company wants to do a bulk order mailed directly to you, please fill this out.
Q2 2024 |
04/05
USApple Presents at Premier Apple Forum
USApple attended the 2024 Premier Apple Forum in Syracuse, NY. Chris Gerlach presented a comprehensive history and forecast of U.S. and Canadian apple crops, while Diane Kurrle provided an update on the activities in Congress and the Biden Administration that are, or will be, impacting the apple industry. We always look forward to the engaging discussions at this annual event.
Continuing their New York travels, USApple’s Chris, Diane, Jessa, and Lynsee headed west to visit several USApple members, including Motts, United Apple Sales, Orchard Dale Fruit Co., and Lake Ontario Fruit Inc.
At Orchard Dale, USApple facilitated a meeting between apple growers and Representative Claudia Tenney (R-NY 24). Orchard Dale owners Beth and Bobby Brown, along with many local growers, effectively highlighted key issues and advocated for the needs of apple growers.
Chris and Diane present to Premier Apple Forum attendees.
USApple team with local growers and industry members during an orchard visit by Rep. Claudia Tenney.
USApple team tours the Keurig Dr Pepper manufacturing facility in Williamson, NY.
Q2 2024 |
05/05
USApple Webinars
On April 4, USApple hosted a Weather Webinar featuring Drew Lerner, who has been forecasting international weather for agriculture for 44 years. He shared predictions for potential weather events and trends from spring bloom into the summer that could impact 2024 apple production. We had record attendance with close to 500 registered for the live event or who watched the replay.
On May 14, Chris Gerlach, USApple’s Director of Industry Analytics, presented the revised and final USDA production data from the 2023/24 season and looked ahead to the coming 2024-25 harvest. The webinar took a deep dive into the recent trends in U.S. apple storages, movement, trade, prices, and more. This webinar also saw great attendance and participation.
Drew Lerner discusses preciptation trends on USApple's annual Weather webinar.
Chris Gerlach presents the final production numbers from 2023/24 season – up 15% from USDA's estimate in August.
Q1 2024
Q1 2024 |
01/08
Conference Circuit
Busy with the winter conference circuit, USApple attended and presented at myriad sessions throughout the U.S:
- Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Expo in Hershey, PA
- 2024 Ohio Produce Network conference in Columbus, OH
- IFTA 2024 Annual Conference in Yakima, WA
- Cornell Cooperative Extension, Western NY Fruit Conference in Rochester, NY
- Southeast Winter Apple School in Hendersonville, NC
- Winchester Regional Commercial Tree Fruit Production School in Winchester, VA
Jim Bair speaking at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Veggie Expo in Hershey, PA
Diane Kurrle speaking at the Southeast Winter Apple School in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
Chris Gerlach speaking at the Cornell Cooperative Extension, Western NY Fruit Conference.
Q1 2024 |
02/08
Government Affairs Committee Meeting
In January, USApple’s Government Affairs Committee met in Washington, D.C. to discuss legislative issues and set priorities for the year. Chaired by USApple Vice Chairman, Brett Baker of New York, the Committee includes representatives from Washington, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and California. Agriculture labor and the upcoming Farm Bill debate dominated the discussion.
Steve Smith, VP of Marketing for Washington Fruit Company, speaks at the committee meeting.
At the top of the table, the Chair of the Gov't Affairs Committee, Brett Baker, President of United Apple Sales, leads the meeting alongside Diane Kurrle, SVP of USApple.
Mike Preacher, VP of Marketing for Domex SuperFresh Growers, speaking at the committee meeting alongside Elizabeth Pauls of Wittenbach Orchards.
Q1 2024 |
03/08
Cinnamon Applesauce Recall
USApple has stayed on top of the national recall of cinnamon applesauce pouches, informing members of any updates to the FDA’s investigation and keeping our Backgrounder updated with the latest. In February, USApple engaged with the New York Times newsroom, citing concerns about the Times’ headlines not accurately highlighting that cinnamon, not apples, led to the adulteration of these products.
Q1 2024 |
04/08
Health and Nutrition Campaign
In February, USApple kicked off “Core Health” – a social media campaign promoting the health benefits of eating apples.
All of February and March, we posted every Friday highlighting a new health benefit with a short, fun, shareable video. The focus was on nutritional aspects that are of great interest to consumers – like cancer prevention, boosting brain health, and fighting depression.
We encouraged members to repost and engage with USApple’s channels, or to post the videos directly to their own channels using our toolkit.
Q1 2024 |
05/08
New Class of NextGen Apple Fellows
In January we announced the 2024 Class of NextGen Apple Fellows:
- Amanda VanBergen
Laboratory Technician, Riveridge Produce Marketing, Inc. (MI) - Austin Benson
Export Sales, Chelan Fresh (WA) - Brannon Frankel
Fixed Asset Manager. AgriMACS, Inc. (WA) - Joseph Strippoli
Orchard Manager, Geig’s Orchard (OH) - Madison Schaefer
SafePod Account Manager, Storage Control Systems, Inc. (MI) - Max Farrell
H-2A Account Executive, Seso Labor (Texas) - Shelby Miller
Marketing & Sales Specialist, Applewood Fresh (Michigan)
With the help of the USApple NextGen Advisory Committee, chaired by Liz Pauls, each fellow went through an extensive application and interview process. We received many highly-qualified candidates this year. The class kicked off their program in Washington D.C. for Capitol Hill Day. We introduced each fellow on our Instagram.
Introducing the new class!
The 2024 NextGen Fellows in front of the Lincoln Memorial during their kick-off trip to Washington, D.C. in conjunction with USApple's Capitol Hill Day.
The 2024 NextGen Fellows after their Media Training at the American Farm Bureau Federation in D.C.
Q1 2024 |
06/08
Capitol Hill Day
On March 19, more than 70 apple leaders across 12 states gathered for USApple’s annual Capitol Hill Day in Washington D.C.
Briefing Breakfast: The day kicked off with a breakfast briefing from Senator John Boozman, the senior Senator from Arkansas. Senator Boozman is the Ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee and will become the Chairman if the Republicans win the Senate in November. He provided an update on the status of work on the Farm Bill and acknowledged the challenges facing specialty crops, like apples, particularly with labor. Attendees shared examples of rapidly increasing labor costs impacting their viability.
Capitol Hill: Collectively, apple leaders met with nearly 75 House and Senate offices, making a strong case for agriculture labor reform, a robust Farm Bill, and the importance of the export market.
USDA Meeting: The USApple Board of Directors met with the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, and key members of his senior leadership. They discussed market access issues and the need for agriculture labor reform. Read more in our press release or see the following press coverage of the event:
- Growing Produce: USApple Board, USDA Chief Take on Labor and Trade Issues
- The Packer: USApple board talks trade, labor with agriculture secretary
- Fresh Plaza: USApple Board meets with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
- Produce Bluebook: USApple board meets with agriculture secretary to discuss trade, labor
- Perishable News: USApple Board Meets with Agriculture Secretary to Discuss Trade, Ag Labor
PAC Reception: After Capitol Hill Day, attendees were invited to attend a USApple Political Action Committee (PAC) reception. Congresswoman Kim Schrier (D-WA) was our guest this year. Congresswoman Schrier is a pragmatist who works with both Republicans and Democrats and is a leader in our Farm Bill and agriculture labor efforts. It was a successful event. Our PAC helps us try to re-elect Members of Congress who have proven themselves to be supporters of the apple industry.
Social Media Promotion: We were very pleased to see so many attendees share pictures and social media messages about the need for ag labor reform, utilizing the hashtag #USApple24Flyin. We were able to amplify our messaging on Capitol Hill in the digital space, reaching more people – power in numbers!
The Washington delegation on the steps of the Capitol.
The New York delegation with Representative Marc Molinaro (R-NY).
L to R: USApple Board Members Bob Mast, Kristin Kershaw Snapp, James Foreman, Brett Baker; Secretary Vilsack’s Senior Advisor for ag labor, Silvia Fabela; and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.
Q1 2024 |
07/08
New USApple Charts
As USApple members took their message directly to lawmakers on Capitol Hill during the fly-in, brand new charts from USApple Director of Industry Analytics, Chris Gerlach, quickly and effectively communicated the urgency and severity of the current challenges facing the industry.
The charts illustrate the following: As this industry knows very well, production is increasing, exports are declining, and prices are falling too. Unfortunately, production costs to grow those apples – already paid for before harvest – have been going through the roof. The primary factor driving those costs are the sizable and inevitable increases in the H-2A labor rates – the only currently viable source of skilled, seasonal employment. The industry has been pushed past the tipping point where, for many growers this season, expenses will far exceed revenues. This is not sustainable and it is in the power of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to come together and make the necessary changes.
You can also find and download the high-res PDF here. We encourage use back at home in conversations with friends, neighbors and especially lawmakers at all levels of government.
Key Industry Metrics
Q1 2024 |
08/08
Third Largest
Apple producer worldwide
10.5
Billion
Billion
U.S. production in lbs
295,000
Acres of apple trees require pollination each year
26,000
U.S. apple producers represented
$23 Billion
Economic output
$8 Billion
In total wages