Published: October 21, 2007 11:44 pm      

Domestic apple growers wary of Chinese dominance

Apple producers say a nation thousands of miles away is threatening their livelihood.

If China is successful, it will flood the United States market with fresh apples at prices so low it could force growers such as Matt and Bruce Boyer of New Paris to find other uses for their fields.

“They’re going from the juice concentrate and now they’re pushing for the fresh pack,” Matt Boyer said.

China’s apple production has skyrocketed during the past 15 years, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In 1990, Chinese farmers grew fewer apples than the United States. In 2005 they grew five times as many apples, supplying more than 48 percent of the world’s apple demands.

China’s apple production is down this year because of weather conditions, but the reprieve for domestic growers is expected to be short-lived.

“(Chinese production) is significantly lighter this year; that’s good news for our growers,” said Karin Rodrigues, executive director of the industry supported Pennsylvania Apple Marketing Program. “This is affecting the concentrate prices, which are up, and it should lift all prices.”

In the 1990s, Chinese apple-juice concentrate started flowing into the United States. The market was flooded, sending prices so low some juice processors were forced out of business.

Prices of fresh fruit are determined by the price of concentrate, which has created an often unstable market for U.S. producers, they say.

It’s all about the cost of labor: Harvesters in China earn about 30 cents an hour, while the U.S. Apple Association lists wages in Pennsylvania at $9 to $10 an hour. On the West Coast, the hourly rate is as high as $14.

Industry organizations including the national and state groups are lobbying Congress to resist the Chinese push and set quality standards to prevent pests and disease.

“China has a wider variety of plants and diseases which we don’t have in this country,” said Stacey Haaga, director of consumer health and education for the U.S. Apple Association. “They could spread to our orchards and pose a huge threat to the growers.”