Skip to main content

- Advertisement -

It’s ‘Taste the Flavor’ time for 2024’s Idaho apples

By
Kathleen Thomas Gaspar

Idaho apple season kicked off in August this year with the Gala variety. The early apples, growers said, were somewhat smaller after Mother Nature’s hot flash in July, but later fruit is sizing up, and quality is reported as good.

As the many varieties queue up, Idaho apple lovers are glad to accept the perennial invitation to “Taste the Flavor,” as the Idaho Apple Commission’s tagline suggests.

sdfFormed in 1966, the Idaho Apple Commission consists of two handler members and three grower members, and annual appointments to the commission are made by the governor. Each commissioner may serve two three-year terms. In August the commission consisted of Chair Kathy Brooke, Vice Chair Sean Rowley and Secretary/Treasurer John Orrison. Commission members at that time were Chad Henggeler and Sally Symms, and sales desk agents were Kelley Henggeler and Eva Symms. Longtime executive director of the Idaho Apple Commission is Candi Fitch.

One of the commission’s responsibilities is “to do any and all things that will promote the sale of Idaho apples, as outlined in Idaho State Code.” To that end, marketing and advertising campaigns coincide with the new crop harvest that commences with Galas, with other varieties to follow in succession through the end of picking in October. The latest apples to come in are Granny Smiths and Pink Ladies.

Fitch said this year’s ad campaigns will be carried out during the months of September and October.

Apple Commission members are part of a special group of growers and shippers in southwest Idaho, where apple-growing experience and traditions team up with the region’s abundant sunshine, rich soil and plentiful water to produce apples and other fruit and vegetables.

As individual growers and handlers, the commission members not only understand the importance of good land stewardship but also the tried and true — and sometimes new — farming and packing techniques for their apples.

The member shippers are Garrett Ranches Packing in Wilder, ID, Henggeler Packing Co. in Fruitland, Mountainland Apples Inc. in Caldwell, Symms Fruit Ranch in Caldwell and J.C. Watson Co. in Parma.

As noted, many orchards and packinghouses were started decades ago, and long before it became an industry buzzword, sustainability was already integral to growing, with orchardists pruning during the dormant period to prepare for the next season.

Each operation conducts ongoing maintenance in orchards and facilities — paramount to fruit quality and production.

Holding the distinction of Idaho’s leading fruit crop, apples tip the scale at more than 60 million pounds annually. The region has become known for its varieties — traditional favorites Red and Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Jonagold and Gala as well as Fuji, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp and Evercrisp. The apples are shipped throughout the United States and exported to the Pacific Rim, Central American, Canadian and Mexican markets.

Grower and Idaho Apple Commission member Kelly Henggeler noted in late August that the 100-plus degree temperatures extended over several weeks the previous month. Henggeler, who is a salesman for apples as well as president, GM and marketing manager of family-owned Henggeler Packing in Fruitland, ID, said his company was shipping its first loads of Galas in early September.

“The growing season in our area involved two hailstorms, a late spring frost and temperatures that exceeded 100 degrees for three weeks in July,” Henggeler said. “The impact on the Gala crop appears to be reduced yields with smaller size fruit.”

Henggeler went on to say that later varieties are more likely to come in with bigger size. “I would think the later varieties like Fuji, Granny Smith and Pink Lady will be closer to average sizing,” he commented.

The longtime fruit grower said that the operation has been reducing its apple acreage and expanding its stone fruit. For its tree fruit production, he said, “We did make a sizeable investment with updated software this past summer which will improve our consistency of sizing and improve our package.”

Apple-wise, “Our main varieties include Galas, Fujis and Honeycrisp.”

Looking at last year’s apple market conditions, which he described as “very poor,” Henggeler said, the market was hit with “an over-abundance of apples out of the northwest. Due to supply and demand pressures, there were many apples sold below the cost of production.”

He continued, “The industry needs a better market structure this year to offset rising costs in labor, fuel prices and transportation costs. The H-2A program, while necessary, has become more cumbersome and costly. Transportation costs have been consistent with the supply of trucks adequate in the early fall and shortages occurring in November and December. The local supply of labor has shown some signs of a slight increase but it’s too early to determine if this trend will continue. The labor shortages for the past five to seven years have been unprecedented.”

Commissioner Eva Symms is on the sales team of Symms Fruit Ranch in Caldwell, ID. This family operation is managed by its fourth and fifth generations and grows multiple crops. Symms said the company began shipping new crop Galas in August.

Noting that the company made some tech upgrades this year, Symms said, “We introduced a new defect sorter to our apple line.” The full apple manifest consists of Galas, Jonathans, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Romes, Fujis, Granny Smith, Pink Lady and Evercrisp.

Symms Fruit Ranch ships domestically and to export markets in Latin America and Asia, and Eva Symms said, “We are always open to new export opportunities.”

Caldwell is also home to Mountainland Apples, which has been shipping apples for four decades. Apple Commission Vice Chair and Mountainland Fruit grower Sean Rowley said his 2024 apple season started in early September with Galas, and Honeycrisps were soon to follow. In addition to those two top varieties, he also grows Golden and Red Delicious, Fujis and Granny Smiths.

“Galas are a little smaller this year, but our yields are average. Honeycrisp are more average in size, and other varieties should be normal in size,” he said. “The fruit quality looks good.”

Most of Mountainland’s Idaho apples are packed at the Caldwell shed and are distributed to local and regional retailers. Rowley said in addition to the Intermountain West, markets include the Southwest and the Midwest. The shipping season runs through February.

Rowley said the early September apple market was steady. “Washington’s crop is down a little this year, and right now the market is stable.”

Labor was described as OK, and Rowley said the company uses H-2A workers. Transportation is also OK, he said, describing it as “way expensive.”

Rowley said Mountainland, like other apple operations, uses in-store demos to let waiting Idaho apple fans know the season has begun — and to bring new fans to the fold. “I might be biased,” he commented, “but I think the flavor is excellent.”

Kathleen Thomas Gaspar

About Kathleen Thomas Gaspar  |  email

Kathleen is a Colorado native and has been writing about produce for more than three decades and has been a professional journalist for more than four decades. Over the years she’s covered a cornucopia of crops grown both in the United States and abroad, and she’s visited dozens of states – traveling by car from her home base in Colorado to the Northwest and Southeast, as far as Vancouver, BC, and Homestead, FL. Now semi-retired, Kathleen continues to write about produce and is also penning an ongoing series of fiction novels. She’s a wife, mother of two grown sons and grandmother of six, and she and her fly fisherman husband Abe reside in the Banana Belt town of Cañon City.

Tagged in:

- Advertisement -

February 7, 2025
Medjool date shipper, Bard Valley Natural Delights is preparing to support the increased demand for dates during Ramadan. As a staple in the diets of those observing the holy month, dates are… Read More

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -