{"id":23181,"date":"2025-09-10T09:37:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T09:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?p=23181"},"modified":"2025-09-10T09:41:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T09:41:36","slug":"the-pei-apple-harvest-kickstarts-after-heat-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/09\/10\/the-pei-apple-harvest-kickstarts-after-heat-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"The PEI apple harvest kickstarts after heat pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Apple farmers in the Prince Edward Island (PEI) are hoping for a good harvest after starting early this fall amid dry conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After an early spring followed by a prolonged heat wave in July through August, the crop bloomed earlier than normal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With u-pick harvests already underway starting the first week of September 2025, orchard operators are predicting a decent output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of those hopeful is Holland Cove-based Jeff Macqueen whose Macqueen Orchards is ready for its apple and pumpkin reaping later in fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Macqueen told&nbsp;<em>13 ABC<\/em>&nbsp;that his region escaped with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.13abc.com\/2025\/09\/03\/local-apple-orchard-preps-good-harvest-amidst-dry-conditions\/\"><u>scattered showers<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;a fortnight ago, good enough for the resilient apple plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Western P.E.I., similar positive sentiments pervade, especially at Arlington Orchands near Miscouche, whose producers expect a bumper crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Barry Balsom who co-runs the orchard, the crop will be \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/prince-edward-island\/pei-arlington-orchards-apple-harvest-drought-1.7623491\"><u>phenominally high-quality<\/u><\/a>\u201d because dry weather accelerated blooming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only downside is that the apples could suffer low juice content this season, meaning juicers will need more for cider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-good-weather-less-disease-early-harvest\"><strong>Good Weather, Less Disease, Early Harvest<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of a June-August summer dry spell, orchards in the eastern Canada province espoused low pest or fungal cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At 120-190 mm, 2025\u2019s rain was 50 to 70% lower than at other years when it averaged 230-270 mm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Balsom farm, scanty rain, persistent heat and an early spring all conspired to speed up fruition. The farm\u2019s harvest began on Labor Day (first Monday of September), with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/insights\/prices\/canada\/apples\/\"><u>prices<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;dependant on market conditions as the harvest unfolds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is hope for production however, with Balsom expecting between 800 and 900 bins, each weighing 340 kg. How this will auger with overall province-wide output will depend on similar trends in foregoing years, per the below P.E.I. apple statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-pei-apple-statistics\"><strong>PEI Apple\u00a0Statistics\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Prince Edward Island accounts for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/agriculture.canada.ca\/en\/sector\/horticulture\/reports\/statistical-overview-canadian-fruit-industry-2024\"><u>3.7%<\/u><\/a>\u00a0of Canada\u2019s total fruit area, a part of which under apples, as of 2023. According to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.princeedwardisland.ca\/sites\/default\/files\/e1b2\/af_stat_apples_berries.pdf\"><u>P.E.I.\u2019s department of agriculture<\/u><\/a>, apple production fluctuated much in the three years ending 2024. 2021\u2019s output hit some unofficial 584 tonnes (t) while 2022\u2019s and 2024\u2019s 360 t and 941 t, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Apple acreage in the 2017-24 period reached a high of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.princeedwardisland.ca\/sites\/default\/files\/e1b2\/af_stat_apples_berries.pdf\"><u>400 acres<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;in 2018 and a low of 296 acres in 2024. The farm-gate sales value of the P.E.I. apple crop fluctuated heavily under this period. While the 2021 value hit an unofficial C$618,000 ($446,381), 2022 brought C$481,000 ($347,426), and 2024 C$1,024,000 ($739,635). The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.princeedwardisland.ca\/sites\/default\/files\/e1b2\/af_stat_apples_berries.pdf\"><u>department&nbsp;<\/u><\/a>warns that the data is non-conclusive and so should be taken at face value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is P.E.I a big fruit source, nationally?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Prince Edward Island produces about 1.2% of Canada\u2019s total fruit output, as of&nbsp;&nbsp;2022, according to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/agriculture.canada.ca\/en\/sector\/horticulture\/reports\/statistical-overview-canadian-fruit-industry-2024\"><u>government of Canada<\/u><\/a>. In the 2020-24 period, it historically picked between 9,518 tonnes (2020) minimum and 13,591 tonnes (2022) maximum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Are apples consumed much in Canada&nbsp;<\/strong>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Apples are an important crop in Canada in terms of consumption at<a href=\"https:\/\/agriculture.canada.ca\/en\/sector\/horticulture\/reports\/statistical-overview-canadian-fruit-industry-2024\"><u>&nbsp;11.7%<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;of all fruit consumption (2023). This makes them the fourth most popular fruit after bananas (20.6%), melons (13.4%) and oranges (11.5%) in consumption share.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Apple farmers in the Prince Edward Island (PEI) are hoping for a good harvest after starting early this fall amid dry conditions.\u00a0 After an early spring followed by a prolonged heat wave in July through August, the crop bloomed earlier than normal.&nbsp; With u-pick harvests already underway starting the first week of September 2025, orchard&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v16.3 (Yoast SEO v20.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The PEI apple harvest kickstarts after heat pressure - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/09\/10\/the-pei-apple-harvest-kickstarts-after-heat-pressure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The PEI apple harvest kickstarts after heat pressure - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; 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