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.