Predicted 2017 apple harvest dates

Phil Schwallier<schwalli@msu.edu>, and Amy Irish-Brown, Michigan State University Extension - July 25, 2017

The 2017 predicted harvest dates are roughly a few days ahead of normal except in the north, which might be normal.

The predicted apple harvest dates are now available at all locations on the Michigan State University Enviro-weather website. We have less confidence in this year’s prediction for the middle of the state. Frost and a long, cold bloom make it difficult to predict the exact full bloom dates. Apple set is from 2-year-old, and in some places from 1-year-old, wood that will produce a very mixed maturity at harvest.

In general, 2017 predicted harvest dates are roughly a few days ahead of normal except in the north, which might be normal. Compared to last year, predicted dates are fairly normal except in the north, which are ahead of last year. Bloom dates this spring were early in the south and normal in the north. May was a cold month and a long, drawn out bloom period, especially in the middle of the state. We do expect mixed maturity at harvest time due to the long bloom.

As always, the weather seems to be unusual each year and 2017 was no different. It began with what appeared to be another very early spring, however cold May weather delayed bloom to a more normal timing from the middle of the state to the north. Most areas bloomed early. The cold May was also very dry and June followed with normal to hot temperatures, which gave us early to normal predicted harvest dates.

Frost damage is considerable and the state’s cropload is approximately 65 percent of normal. The tops of trees are heavy and the bottoms are light. Blocks with light crop loads will mature three or four days sooner than the predicted harvest dates. Heavy crop loads will mature seven days later than the predicted dates.

The normal harvest dates for other varieties are listed in Table 3 for the Grand Rapids, Michigan, area. This year's 2017 predicted dates are a rough estimate based on the McIntosh, Jonathan and Red Delicious predicted dates. Other areas of the state should adjust non-predicted varieties based on their own history. ReTain application should be applied 30 days before harvest. Use Table 3 to time ReTain applications and adjust for varieties and locations.

Table 1. 2017 predicted peak harvest dates.
Full bloom date 2017				Predicted harvest date 2017
Station	McIntosh	Jonathans	Reds	McIntosh	Jonathans	Reds	Observer
SWMREC	April 23	April 24	April 25	Aug. 28	Sept. 15	Sept. 22	Bill Shane
Deerfield	April 25	April 26	April 27	Aug. 29	Sept. 18	Sept. 25	Bob Tritten
Romeo	April 28	May 1	May 1	Sept. 2	Sept. 25	Oct. 1	Bob Tritten
Peach Ridge	May 1	May 5	May 7	Sept. 5	Sept. 27	Oct. 4	Amy Irish-Brown
Hart	May 11	May 13	May 14	Sept. 13	Sept. 30	Oct. 6	Amy Irish-Brown
NWMHRS	May 19	May 20	May 21	Sept. 19	Oct. 8	Oct. 14	Nikki Rothwell

Table 2. 2017 predicted peak harvest dates compared to normal and last year.
Days ahead of normal				Days ahead of last year
Station	McIntosh	Jonathans	Reds	McIntosh	Jonathans	Reds
SWMREC	10	6	6	2	1	0
Deerfield	10	3	7	3	-1	0
Romeo	11	0	2	5	1	4
Peach Ridge	10	-1	1	2	2	1
Hart	5	3	8	0	2	2
NWMHRS	3	-2	3	1	-8	-7

Table 3. Normal and 2017 peak harvest dates for varieties for the Grand Rapids area
Variety	Normal date	2017 predicted date
Paulared	Aug. 24	Aug. 19
Gingergold	Aug. 26	Aug. 21
Gala	Sept. 10	Sept. 5
McIntosh	Sept.15	Sept. 5
Honeycrisp	Sept.18	Sept. 15
Empire	Sept.26	Sept. 25
Jonathan	Sept.28	Sept. 27
Jonagold	Sept.28	Sept. 27
Golden Delicious	Oct. 2	Oct. 1
Red Delicious	Oct.5	Oct. 4
Idared	Oct.10	Oct. 9
Rome	Oct.15	Oct. 14
Fuji	Oct.25	Oct. 24
Braeburn	Oct.25	Oct. 24
Goldrush	Nov. 1	Oct. 31

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).