Protecting Agriculture: Where Have all the Arizona Apples Gone?!

By Julie Murphree, Arizona Farm Bureau
Recently, my numbers guys from Arizona Agricultural Statistics corrected me on one of my agriculture statistics on my @Cottonaggie Twitter account. I cited that Arizona annually produces 94.5 million pounds of apples. We once did; not now. In reality, in 2010 we only produced 17 million pounds of apples.
 
I can understand if a couple million pounds went missing in our Arizona apple production; but 77.5 million pounds!?
 
In 2000, our Arizona apple farmers did produce those 94.5 million pounds of delicious Arizona apples. But over the last decade thanks in part to one foreign investor, 82% of our apple production was completely wiped out.
 
I won’t get picky (pun intended) or name names since this guy from Egypt is no longer in the country, but after buying five orchards in Cochise County totaling 2,500 acres, he apparently thought the orchards would take care of themselves.
 
According to Rob Call, U. of A. Extension agent covering Cochise and Graham counties as horticulture educator, “Apples are actually one of the most difficult crops to grow,” he says. “To be productive and truly grow them right you have to do 63 different production steps to take care of the trees.”
 
Granted, China can be blamed for taking away some of our market too. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a good chunk of our Arizona apples were grown for processing into mainly apple juice and other products such as apple slices since our sunny days produce a deliciously sweet apple. Despite this, in just a few years, China took away the United States’ apple processing market.
 
A 54% tariff was put on China’s juice concentrate to create a level playing field. But most of your serious apple growers in Arizona and other states know that you can’t survive in the business with just the apple processing market. The real value of the business is in the whole, quality fruit.
 
“To obtain that level of quality, Arizona apple you have to apply all the necessary inputs to provide a good product for the market,” says Call.
 
Because “Apple Month” occurs in the fall and Arizona families are focused on making the delicious, healthy fruit such an important part of all their fall and holiday cooking and celebrating, it broke my heart to discover what caused the dramatic drop in Arizona’s apple production.
 
Joe Sigg, Arizona Farm Bureau’s Government Relations director, helped me have a better perspective. “Remember, most of his orchards were on private property [with the exception of one on state lease land],” says Sigg. “He has the right to do anything he wants to, including destroying very productive orchards and ultimately sell his land at a loss.”
 
Sigg points out it was a case of somebody buying something and not knowing “what the heck he was doing.”
 
There’s Good News Somewhere in All of This
The good news is the remaining 18% of our state’s apple production that is thriving producing top quality apples.
 
Our two remaining commercial apple producers are Valley Farms and Briggs & Eggers, both from the Willcox area. Briggs & Eggers is on Fill Your Plate because it sells some roadside stand apples. Briggs and Eggers also ships all over the United States and Canada and is the only grower of Pink Ladies during the fall period in Arizona because of the state’s four-week jump on the harvest season.
 
“We’ve been USDA certified organic since 1989,” says Lance Eggers of Briggs & Eggers. “We can pack 1,000 boxes a day at the height of the season. We produce a quality product and are focused on maintaining a reputation of a real good, high quality grower and packer.”
 
Members of Arizona Farm Bureau, Briggs & Eggers is planning on putting in another 17 acres of apple orchards this spring. It may be a small step but maybe we’ll get back to some larger production in Arizona.
 
Eggers also said he sees “a bright future for apples in Arizona and one of the reasons we’re tied in with a national distributor and co-pack for them.”
 
We also have the well-known Apple Annie’s that Arizona families have come to love and make part of their fall family trek to the farm (see the Food Check-out article this issue and our use of Arizona apples).
 
The best news? Arizona apples have some unique qualities that Arizona apple growers can be proud of.
  1. Arizona apples are sweeter overall than just about any other state because they love the sun. Our 300+plus days of sun produce some very sweet fruit.
  2. This includes the Granny Smith Apple that most people think is sour and tart. The Arizona Granny Smith apple has a sweet tartness to it that’s like none other.
  3. Because of our climate, our apple harvests get a 3 to 4 week jump on the market.
  4. We grow a variety of apples: Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Pink Lady, Sundowner and Granny Smith
 
Arizona’s climate has always been a key component to our state’s success in agriculture. As we celebrate our centennial this year and the state’s 5 “C’s” we hope to continue celebrating climate and agriculture into the future. Our Arizona apples certainly do!