Apple Harvest

Storms Cast Doubt on Apple Harvest
The Associated Press, June 23, 2000

They surveyed their battered orchards and used terms like devastated, worst ever, and hopeless to describe the damage from severe storms. Apple growers in the Hudson Valley region of New York say they will need financial help from the federal government to weather what they say will surely be a dismal year for production. The region's apple industry, one of the largest in the nation, was already complaining about financial obstacles when hailstorms May 18 and June 2 damaged an estimated 2 million bushels of apples. “It was devastating,” said Rod Dressel Jr., manager of packing and storage for Dressel Farms in New Paltz. “The Hudson Valley apple crop has been hit pretty hard from north to south.” “There's no hope of getting any economic return,” added George Lamont, president of the New York State Horticultural Society.