who you ask, since (in the major apple growing areas) there were no big, late damaging freezes and rainfall has been consistent, this could be a record. The first estimate of the size of the 2019 United States apple crop will be released in August by the USDA. A few weeks later The U.S. Apple Association's releases their estimate.

2018's U.S. apple crop was 272.7 million bushels. 1 bushel is 42-48 lbs; for calculations, 42 lbs is the assume average. The USDA estimated the 2018 apple crop production at 11.4 billion pounds.

A good year is anything above 245 million bushels. For historical comparison, the 2013 crop was 248.6 million bushels. Historically, the trend is steadily upward, with occasional dips for a late freeze. The five-year average for 2009-2014 wasstates like Florida and warm areas of Texas, etc. do not produce commercial crops. That leaves about 32 states growing apples commercially. Washington State is by far the largest producing state for apples in the United States. The top ten apple producing states, in order, are:

Washington (171 million bushels in 2018) New York (31 million bushels) Michigan (28 million bushels) Pennsylvania California Virginia North Carolina Oregon Ohio Idaho

Apple seasons

Fresh apples appear in grocery stores all year round now, thanks to a global marketplace, but the northern hemisphere's apple season is typically from as early as July to as late as November. The peak of the apple season is September and October.

So where do apple come from the rest of the year? Some (not all) varieties of apples store