119 million pounds, or an astounding 357 million apples, sounds like a lot.
And it is.
But this year's estimated Okanagan apple harvest is actually down 15% from the 140 million pounds, or 420 million apples, of 2020.
"There was some damage from the extreme heat (of late June and early July)," said Glen Lucas, general manager of the 350-member BC Fruit Growers' Association.
"And apple acreage in the Okanagan is shrinking as some orchardists pull out apples in favour of cherries or wine grapes."
In fact, apple orchard acreage in 2011 was 8,800.
Today, it's estimated to be 7,580 acres, a 15% retraction.
But enough of the negative trending.
Apples are still an important cash crop in the Okanagan, even if cherries have eclipsed them in the last couple of years.
Apples are what launched the Okanagan's agricultural prowess 150 years ago and apples from the Valley continue to be sought after at fruit stands and grocery stores across BC and the world.
There's an estimated 800 apple growers in BC, most of them in the Okanagan.
The Okanagan apple harvest actually started last month with small quantities of lesser-known summer varieties coming in, such as Sunrise and Ginger Gold.
Currently, the so-called winter apples harvest has begun with two of the Okanagan's top four varieties coming off the trees -- Gala and McIntosh, which is colloquially called the Mac.
Honeycrisp is also being picked right now.
Shortly, the other two of the top four varieties -- Ambrosia and Spartan -- will start to be harvested.
The last to come off the trees are Pink Lady, with harvest running into November.
Most Okanagan apples are packed, stored and distributed by the BC Tree Fruit Cooperative.
But there's also an array of other packinghousing such as Sander, Consolidated Fresh Product, Fairview and Cawston Cold Storage.
The beauty of apples is they are a year-round fruit with the right storage.
With regular refrigeration and distribution, apples stay fresh and crisp until Christmas.
However, controlled atmosphere storage, which most Okanagan packinghouses have, sees rooms of apples sealed and the oxygen level dropped in favour of nitrogen to keep the fruit in ideal condition for distribution, sale and eating 365 days a year.
The life of an apple grower is not easy.
While grade A, crunchy apples can fetch $2 to $3 a pound at the grocery store, orchardists only see about 26 cents of that.
Cost of production is estimated to be 39 cents a pound, including the cost of land, ongoing equipment needs, replanting when needed and labour.
So, apple orchardists can't make a profit unless they've owned the land for a while or grow the most desirable varieties or are diversified with cherries or wine grapes.
By the way, the cherry harvest was earlier this summer and grape picking is also underway right now.
Pear harvest is also currently on and soft tree fruits such as peaches, apricots, nectarines and plum were picked earlier this summer.
