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Michigan apple harvest may be early this year, experts say

Michigan apple harvest may be early this year, experts say
Posted at 9:14 AM, Aug 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-15 09:14:26-04

If you're looking to get some Michigan apples but don't want to wait long, this may be good news.

The state's apple harvest is ahead of schedule and may be early this year, according to Michigan State University experts.

According to MSU experts, this year's harvest dates are fairly normal compared to last year, except in the north, which is ahead of schedule.

"May was a cold month and a long, drawn out bloom period, especially in the middle of the state," researchers wrote. "We do expect mixed maturity at harvest time due to the long bloom."

Looking at the metro Detroit area, full bloom dates for Romeo happened on April 28 for McIntosh and May 1 for Jonathans and Reds. That was 11 days early for McIntosh and two days early for Reds.

The expected harvest date in Romeo is Sept. 2 for McIntosh, Sept. 25 for Jonathans and Oct. 1 for reds, which are five, one and four days ahead of last year.

"The cold May was also very dry and June followed with normal to hot temperatures, which gave us early to normal predicted harvest dates," they wrote.