Early start for UK apples..

The English apple season is running about seven to 10 days ahead of last year with picking of Cox for long-term storage just starting now. The early start is thanks to an unseasonably warm April.“We are already getting to the end of the Discovery crop and Worcester is coming on stream,” said Adrian Barlow of English Apples & Pears. “Picking for immediate sale of Cox will probably start in week beginning September 10 and will be really under way a week later. Gala is also very advanced compared to last year and is coming in at about the same time as Cox.”Barlow warned that this congested picking schedule is likely to put pressure on growers to pick as there will be a lot of fruit to harvest in a short space of time.The weather has created some difficulties for sizing on the Bramley crop, he added. “Sizes are lower than expected,” said Barlow. “This is a reflection of the weather since fruit set as there has been very little sunshine and cooler temperatures. As a result, there will be more fruit left on trees longer to size up.”Barlow also emphasised that hail damage has been a factor for growers this season. “We were expecting a top-fruit crop 20 per cent higher this year than last, but since the hail, the increase on last year is only about five per cent,” he said. “But it is notoriously difficult to really know the extent of the damage until growers get into the fields and pick.”However, the market situation looks good for a clean handover from southern to northern hemisphere fruit. “The European crop is 13 per cent down and it does not look as if there is going to be a southern hemisphere overhang so this should lead to a good relationship between demand and supply at the start of our season,” he said.