The outlook from the ninth most productive apple growing county in Michigan is an early thumbs up.
The apple harvest is already underway — between one and two weeks ahead of norm — as the crop sweetens and colors by the day.
“I had a Sweet Tango over the weekend, and it was delicious,” said Nikki Rothwell, coordinator of the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Center and MSU Extension horticulture educator. “These sunny days and cooler nights are really going to help with the color. It was 45 degrees (Tuesday morning) and now it’s 75 degrees in my truck, and I’m on M-22 south of Empire.
“I think growers are going to be excited.”
Keep in mind that Rothwell was referring to apple growers. Alan Bakker, who farms Bakker’s Acres in Suttons Bay Township with his wife, Lynn, seemed impressed with what he’s seeing in his young orchards despite his signature dead-pan delivery.
“They look like the best apples I’ve seen here,” Bakker said. “Of course, with a young tree you get more sunlight and better quality …I don’t know if we’ve ever picked in August, but we did this year.”
Indeed, picker crews, most of them representing Hispanic labor brought to Leelanau County through a federal employment program, started last week harvesting early varieties for fresh markets. The Bakkers this year leased their trees to nearby Cherry Bay Orchards, whose crews are picking early Honeycrisp, Sweet Tango and Ginger Gold varieties. All are available at the Bakker’s fruit stand off Setterbo Road.
Bakker said pricing for apples may be up a bit even as the third year of bumper crops matures on trees. More revenue, he added, is needed to keep up with higher labor and input costs including fertilizer.
Michigan’s official crop estimate calls for 30.5 million bushels, which nearly matches the 31.9 million bushels picked in 2023. The state’s average annual crop is 25.9 million bushels. Washington dominates the domestic apple market and is expected to produce 160 million bushels.
Michigan looks primed to top New York State, which anticipates production at 28 million bushels, for second place.
“Everything is looking good this year and the weather is cooperating as well,” said Diane Smith, executive director of the Michigan Apple Committee. “People think about apples when it’s cool outside, and we’ve been getting that cooler weather.”
Unlike cherries — the No. 1 fruit grown in Leelanau — the export market for apples shot up last year to 140,000 cases from only 10,000 cases for the 2022 crop, Smith said. The uptick in exports, mainly to Central America, Columbia and Caribbean islands, resulted from a marketing campaign sponsored by the U.S. Apple Association. The higher exports will help to sustain domestic prices, Smith said.
Pricing for tart cherries in particular has been deflated by a steady flow of imports and a drop-off in the export market. Many apple growers in Leelanau County also have cherry orchards on a larger scale. They’ll welcome an opportunity to help their finances before winter sets in.
Like with cherries, families in the apple business tend to survive tough times.
“We have a lot of farms that are on their sixth and seventh generations. Having all those family farms in the state makes us a little different than other industries, and even among apple growers in other states. The state of Michigan is pretty unique,” Smith said.
The number of farms growing apples in Michigan is not dwindling, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Between 2012 and 2022, the last year surveyed, the number of farms increased from 840 to 850 and those farms’ acreage jumped from 36,500 to 38,000. In Leelanau County, the number and size of apple-growing farms slipped slightly from 53 to 50 farms and from 1,150 acres to 1,100 acres.
Leelanau may be the topgrowing apple county in Northwest Michigan, but we can’t compare with West Central counties such as Kent (96 farms, 10,900 acres), Oceana (60 farms, 3,800 acres) or Ottawa (33 farms, 3,600 acres).
Rothwell noted that modern orchards employ a trellised design, growing smaller trees tighter together. The result is higher production per acre.
“We’re growing our apples a lot closer, so we’re growing a lot more fruit. That’s exciting,” she said.
Rothwell knows about apples in their growing and finished forms. She and husband, Dan, opened Tandem Ciders in 2008 in Suttons Bay Township as the U.S. hard cider industry was in its infancy. While domestic hard cider sales have peaked, local cider makers have not, Rothwell believes.
“Regional cideries are still growing, while national brands such as Angry Orchard are not. Regional brands are increasing,” she said.
