The United States is currently halfway through its 2023 apple season and expects to reap 9 billion pounds.  In a year of spring freezes, floods and tropical storms, the season’s total production will nevertheless be 1.5% more than that of 2022. 

Exports of apples in 2022 brought the country $885.98 million, which in turn were below the record 2018 and 2019 levels.

Across the states, farmers from Michigan to Washington have been picking the fruit since July. 

Though hit by weather effects of 2023,  this season’s crop is promising to be of high quality. 

The US’ apples season runs from July through November, with the peak coming in fall, between September and October.

Washington in the Pacific Northwest is usually the place to be each harvest time, with its clout as the largest apple production state. The government predicts that Washington will produce 6.7 billion pounds of the fruit in the 2023/24 apple season. 

Farmers across the state pick 12 billion fruits annually and these are not just one cultivar. Honeycrisps ripen here as early as September while the popular Jonagold variety hits the state’s dinner tables by early October. 

Crossing down to the American Midwest comes Oregon’s apples. Currently, state-based farmers are highly anticipating the Hood River Valley Harvest Fest. The festival takes place between October 13th and 15th. Producers and customers come here to deal in fresh fall apples and a smattering of squash and stone fruit.

On the East Coast, the ongoing apple harvest is a proud  patriotic routine. It is enlivened by the fact that the first apple tree to grow in the country came to Boston in 1625.  

New York expects lowered production this season due to a mild late winter and a  spring freeze that affected apple trees.

Farm gate Price change in July

The July, 2023 farm gate prices for US apples broke even from the lower prices in June. In July, farmers received 25.2% more per 1 box of apples than they did in June. 

While each box (1 pound) cost $0.69 in June, in July the same cost $0.86 with the onset of premium fresh produce.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cites farm gate prices at the start of the apple season in 2023 as being higher than last year’s.

America’s first place to grow apples, Massachusetts, currently retails a kilogram of apples at an average $5.02. This  reflects the national range of $3.49 to $6.6 per kilo.