Predicted 2015 apple harvest dates

Phil Schwallier<schwalli@msu.edu>, and Amy Irish-Brown, Michigan State University Extension - July 15, 2015

The 2015 predicted apple harvest dates are roughly a few days behind normal and a few days ahead of last year.

The predicted harvest dates are now available at all locations on the Michigan State University Enviro-weather website. In general, 2015 predicted harvest dates are roughly a few days behind normal and a few days ahead of last year. Bloom dates this spring were a few days late in the south and fairly normal in the rest of the state. However, in central Michigan, four days straight of very poor weather conditions occurred during full bloom. During this time no pollination occurred, thus the actual harvest dates may be later than the predicted dates.

As always, the weather seems to be unusual each year and 2015 was no different. It began after an extremely cold winter with a slightly late, but mostly normal spring. A few frost events occurred in the south part of the state, but did relatively minor damage. A few frost marks on fruit are evident. However, significant damaging frost occurred in the north with some orchards losing the crop to the frost. This year, days between full bloom in the south and full bloom in the north were less than normal. This unusual spring was also characterized by considerable precipitation in some parts of the state.

Most apple growers were successful in thinning the crop down to a nice crop load. Some blocks were over-thinned. The state’s crop load is approximately normal. 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 and Table 4 for southwest Michigan. This year's 2015 predicted dates are a rough estimate based on the McIntosh, Jonathan and Red Delicious predicted dates. Michigan State University Extension recommends other areas of the state adjust non-predicted varieties based on their own history. ReTain application should be applied 30 days before harvest (DBH). Use Table 3’s 2015 predicted harvest dates for other varieties to time ReTain applications and adjust for varieties and locations.

Table 1. 2015 predicted peak harvest dates
Full bloom date				Predicted harvest date
Station	McIntosh	Jonathans	Red Delicious	McIntosh	Jonathans	Red Delicious	Observer
SWMREC	May 8	May 9	May 9	Sept. 9	Sept. 28	Oct. 4	Bill Shane
Deerfield	May 8	May 9	May 9	Sept. 7	Sept. 24	Oct. 3	Bob Tritten
Romeo	May 9	May 10	May 10	Sept. 9	Sept. 27	Oct. 3	Bob Tritten
Peach Ridge	May 10	May 11	May 12	Sept. 11	Sept. 29	Oct. 5	Amy Irish-Brown
Hart	May 17	May 17	May 18	Sept. 19	Oct. 4	Oct. 13	Amy Irish-Brown
NWMHRS	May 18	May 21	May 23	Sept. 20	Oct. 17	Oct. 14	Nikki Rothwell

Table 2. 2015 predicted peak harvest dates compared to normal and last year
Days ahead of normal				Days ahead of last year
Station	McIntosh	Jonathans	Red Delicious	McIntosh	Jonathans	Red Delicious
SWMREC	-2	-7	-6	2	3	3
Deerfield	1	-3	-1	5	6	4
Flint	4	-2	0	5	4	4
Peach Ridge	4	-3	0	8	3	5
Hart	-1	-1	1	4	4	1
NWMHRS	2	-1	3	6	6	5

Table 3. Normal and 2015 peak harvest dates for varieties for the Grand Rapids area
Variety	Normal date	2015 predicted date
Paula Red	Aug. 24	Aug. 20
Gingergold	Aug. 26	Aug. 22
Gala	Sept. 10	Sept. 6
McIntosh	Sept. 15	Sept. 11
Honeycrisp	Sept. 18	Sept. 14
Empire	Sept.22	Sept. 18
Jonathan	Sept. 28	Sept. 29
Jonagold	Sept. 28	Sept. 29
Golden Delicious	Oct. 2	Oct. 3
Red Delicious	Oct.5	Oct. 5
Ida Red	Oct.10	Oct. 10
Rome	Oct.15	10/15/15
Fuji	Oct. 25	Oct. 25
Braeburn	Oct. 25	Oct. 25
Goldrush	Nov. 1	Nov. 1

Table 4. Normal and 2015 peak harvest dates for varieties for the Berrien County area in southwest Michigan
Variety	Normal date	2015 predicted date
Paula Red	Aug. 22	Aug. 18
Gingergold	Aug. 24	Aug. 20
Gala	Sept. 8	Sept. 7
McIntosh	Sept. 10	Sept. 6
Honeycrisp	Sept. 13	Sept. 9
Empire	Sept. 22	Sept. 18
Jonathan	Sept. 22	Sept. 28
Jonagold	Sept. 22	Sept. 23
Golden Delicious	Sept. 25	Sept. 26
Red Delicious	Sept. 28	Oct. 4
Ida Red	Oct. 5	Oct. 5
Rome	Oct. 5	Oct. 5
Fuji	Oct. 20	Oct. 20
Braeburn	Oct. 20	Oct. 20
Goldrush	Oct. 26	Oct. 26

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).

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