The freezer and juice California strawberry volume in 2008 have each trended in the opposite direction of the fresh market. The amount of freezer fruit and juice stock delivered to processors is lower than at any time in the past few years. In 2007 there were more than 12 million pounds of juice berries delivered to processors in September and October. This was considerably more than any other previous year in the same period of time. Newer varieties, and a crop that was later than normal, helped strawberry growers to keep picking their fruit through October. In 2008 we could see this happen again, but there will also be some pressure on certain growers to pick this fruit for the freezer which also has been shorted this year.

California continues it's expansion in the fresh strawberry market another year. So far to date, more strawberries have been delivered to the fresh market than in any previous year in California. The market held up reasonably well through the major market periods. There could be another 30 million trays delivered to the market before the year is finished. This would put California over the 150 million tray mark for the first time.

At the recent U.S. Apple convention, estimates were given with regard to the upcoming apple crop in the United States. The estimate for Washington State, which grows 57% of all of the apples in the U.S., is above the level produced for 2007, but still below the 5 year average. The numbers for 2007 and 2008 are different for the U.S. Apple forecast and the USDA forecast, but both of them show an increase in production for 2008 versus 2007.

The processing apple percentage is estimated to rise from 17.4% in 2007 to 18.4% in 2008. This would equate to approximately 40,000 more tons of processing apples in 2008 than in 2007, but still below the available tons for processing in 2006. Pricing may soften some from the high prices paid for processing apples in 2007, but will likely remain higher than prices in 2006.