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Apple growers struggle with tight margins

An analyst for a specialty crop organization says high input costs and low farm gate prices are not just a problem for row crop producers.  

Christopher Gerlach with the U.S. Apple Association tells Brownfield apple producers are feeling the pressure. “So, for the last couple of years in a row, we’ve had prices paid to growers continue to fall while the cost of production, everything from gas to labor has been increasing so we’ve actuaslly seen net negetive returns for the last several years running.”

Gerlach says with exports down and losing the India market, U.S. consumers are paying about the same while retailers are making money. “They’re driving a hard bargain on the grower price and keeping that retail price where it is.”

Gerlach says the labor to hand-pick 25 billion apples is the biggest cost of production, but he’s hopeful new H2A wage rates will provide some relief.   

Gerlach spoke to Brownfield during the Growing Wisconsin Conference in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Tuesday.

AUDIO: Christopher Gerlach discusses challenges in the apple sector with Brownfield’s Larry Lee.