Apples to Apples in 2024

Orchard logistics, growing challenges, and a look at this season’s crop

By Emily Batdorf | Sept. 28, 2024

You don’t have to spend much time in northern Michigan to notice that cherries are everywhere. After all, Michigan produces about three-fourths of the nation’s tart cherries, and Traverse City has been celebrating this sweet fruit since the 1920s. But this time of year, there’s another crop that deserves some local attention.

The Michigan Apple Committee estimates that the state will produce a crop of 30.5 million bushels, or nearly 1.3 billion pounds, of apples in 2024. If that sounds like a lot, it is: In an average year, the state produces around 26 million bushels. This could be the third above-average season in a row, which is good news for farmers across the state. It’s also good news for locals, tourists, and anyone who appreciates crisp apples and fresh cider straight from the orchard.

In anticipation of an apple-filled fall, we spoke to two NoMi apple orchards, BrixStone Farms and King Orchards, to get the scoop on this year’s crop.

King Orchards has been around since 1980, when Juliette King-McAvoy’s father, John King, dreamed of starting a cherry orchard near the north end of Torch Lake. Forty-four years later, King-McAvoy is Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and King Orchards grows 450 acres of fruits and vegetables—including plenty of apples.

Meanwhile, in Bear Lake, Keaton Foster grows apples and peaches and produces maple syrup on his 150-plus acre farm. After studying agribusiness management and working in maple syrup production in New York State, Foster returned to the Midwest and bought his farm in 2019. 2020 was BrixStone Farms’ first production season.

Despite opening roughly 40 years apart, both King Orchards and BrixStone Farms face similar issues—good and bad—when it comes to growing apples.

Varieties, Sales, and Processing

Both BrixStone Farms and King Orchards grow a wide variety of apples that may surprise the average eater. At BrixStone, Foster grows about 28 varieties—plus additional varieties for making cider.

“The most popular varieties for us are Honeycrisp—that's our biggest seller—followed by Everquest, which is a new cross between a Honeycrisp and a Fuji,” Foster says.

After harvesting, roughly 5 percent of BrixStone’s apples head to the farm stand, 20 percent end up on grocery store shelves, and 75 percent get processed, peeled, and sliced on their way to becoming sauce, pies, and more.

At King Orchards, agritourism, including U-Pick, is a big part of business. Other portions of the King Orchards crop are sold in their own stores. Some apples go to distributors, as well. “Our Honeycrisps might end up in the Whole Foods in Chicago or in the Meijer or Aldi,” says King-McAvoy.

Depending on supply, some may also go to processors to become juice or applesauce. King Orchards grows 22 varieties, and King-McAvoy notes a trend in how the popularity of these varieties has shifted over time.

“There’s been less interest in processing apples, or apples that are really good for baking, and more emphasis on eating apples. Thirty years ago, people were making more sauces and pies and doing more of that.”

Growing for the Customer

It’s not just the difference in baking vs. eating apples that has changed over the years at King Orchards.

“Most of the traditional varieties aren’t really ready to pick until late September, early October. And we’re seeing, as far as agritourism, a lot of people want to be out at the farm in early September,” says King-McAvoy.

In response, the farm is focused on planting new varieties that are ready to pick earlier than the traditional varieties. King-McAvoy adds that there’s growth potential in King Orchards’ existing agritourism business, which sets them apart from other family-owned farms and helps diversify the farm’s income.

Similarly, Foster sees potential in the direct-to-consumer market for his apples.

“We’re always looking to expand our little farm market … I think that just pushing as much as we can from the farm to get to the consumer is better. That could be through U-Pick in the future,” says Foster.

Navigating the Ups and Downs

Despite a few years of robust apple crops, farmers Up North still face a variety of challenges.

“Our climate has changed pretty significantly in the 40 years that we’ve been in business. Spring is becoming more volatile,” says King-McAvoy, who adds that warmer temperatures—especially in the fall—are affecting apple quality. A growing number of pests and fungi don’t help, either.

Even though BrixStone has only been operating since 2020, Foster has witnessed climatic changes, too. “It seems like there’s a lot more sporadic events,” he says. “We had a huge hail storm in Onekama this year, kind of just a crazy fluke thing, and it seems like that kind of stuff is happening more often.”

Aside from environmental factors, a more global market is also affecting supply and demand. Increased production from other markets can lower prices and have a major impact on smaller, family-owned farms.

Foster adds that at BrixStone, rising labor costs are presenting difficulties. With the large crews needed to keep things running during harvest season, hiring help can strain a farmer’s budget.

Despite the challenges, both King-McAvoy and Foster agree apple growing has its benefits, even in a region known for cherries.

“The reason why I chose to be primarily an apple grower is because there’s so many avenues in which you can send them,” says Foster. “You can send them to a sauce processor, you can send them to a peeler and slicer, you can send them to be taffy apples, you can send them to juice. And then there’s always the fresh market opportunities. I like the flexibility.”

King-McAvoy adds, “Many farmers grow cherries and apples. I think apples have proved to be a little less vulnerable to climate change.” Additionally, compared to cherries, apples have a quicker turnaround time from when farmers purchase the trees to when they start producing, so in that way, the crop is more adaptable.

In other good news, both Foster and King-McAvoy speak positively of this year’s crop. Says King-McAvoy, “We haven’t gotten any hail—knock on wood. [The apple crop] seems to be developing very nicely, and we’re excited about the quality. It looks like we’re going to have a really great fall.”

Visit the farmstand at BrixStone Farms at 11240 Milarch Road in Bear Lake. Visit King Orchards’ U-Pick Orchard & Market at 4620 N M-88 in Central Lake or their Bakery & Market at 986 US-31 S in Kewadin.