Predicted 2020 apple harvest dates

Questions about this information? Contact us. July 14, 2020

Updated from an original article written by Philip Schwallier and Amy Irish-Brown.

The predicted apple harvest dates are a few days later than normal.

Apples — Photo by Amy Irish-Brown, MSU Extension

The predicted harvest dates are now available at all locations on the Michigan State University Enviroweather website. Once again, we have experienced a cool to cold late winter climate that delayed the development of spring buds. Most of the state experienced a late bloom except the very southeast part of Michigan. In general, 2020 predicted harvest dates are a few days later than normal. Most of the state is only a few days behind normal and nearly equal to last year or a few days ahead of last year.

As always, the weather seems to be unusual each year and 2020 was no different. A severe freeze with no inversion occurred on May 9. This year began with another late spring. Most areas bloomed a week late except southeast Michigan, which was a few days late. Warm weather returned mid- to late May, which sped up bloom. In general, apple blocks have a mix of cropload, some light and some heavy areas but mostly moderate crop loads. Blocks with light crop loads will mature three or four days sooner then the predicted harvest dates. Heavy crop loads will mature seven days later than the predicted dates. If hot stressful weather occurs in August or September, apple maturity will be advanced. The 2020 predicted harvest dates are listed in Table 1. This year, we are nearly normal to a few days later than normal. Table 2 lists this year’s predictions compared to normal and last year.

The normal harvest dates for other varieties are listed in Table 3 for the Grand Rapids area. This year's 2020 predicted dates for other non-modeled varieties are a rough estimate based on the McIntosh, Jonathan and Red Delicious predicted dates. Other areas of the state should adjust non-predicted varieties based on their own history. ReTain application should be applied 30 DBH (days before harvest). Harvista can be applied three to seven DBH. Use Table 3, 2020 Predicted Harvest Dates for Other Varieties, to time ReTain applications and adjust for varieties and locations.

Table 1. 2020 predicted peak harvest dates.
Full bloom date 2020				Predicted harvest date 2020
Station	McIntosh	Jons	Reds	McIntosh	Jons	Reds	Observer
SWMREC	16-May	17-May	17-May	10-Sep	24-Sep	30-Sep	Shane
Deerfield	10-May	14-May	14-May	9-Sep	23-Sep	5-Oct	Tritten
Romeo	20-May	21-May	22-May	18-Sep	29-Sep	5-Oct	Tritten
Peach Ridge	21-May	22-May	22-May	19-Sep	30-Sep	6-Oct	Irish-Brown
Hart	25-May	25-May	26-May	24-Sep	5-Oct	12-Oct	Irish-Brown
NWMHRS	27-May	28-May	28-May	27-Sep	11-Oct	19-Oct	Rothwell

Table 2. 2020 predicted peak harvest dates compared to normal and last year.
Days behind normal				Days behind of last year
Station	McIntosh	Jons	Reds	McIntosh	Jons	Reds
SWMREC	-3	3	-2	0	0	0
Deerfield	-1	2	-3	0	0	0
Romeo	5	4	2	2	-2	-2
Peach Ridge	3	4	-1	0	0	0
Hart	8	2	2	-2	-5	-5
NWMHRS	5	5	2	-3	0	-2

Table 3. Normal and 2020 peak harvest dates for varieties for the Grand Rapids area
Variety	Normal date	2020 predicted date
Paulared	8/24	8/28
Gingergold	8/26	8/30
Gala	9/10	9/14
McIntosh	9/15	9/19
Honeycrisp	9/18	9/23
Empire	9/24	9/28
Jonathan	9/26	9/30
Jonagold	9/26	9/30
Golden Delicious	10/2	10/2
Red Delicious	10/5	10/6
Idared	10/10	10/11
Rome	10/15	10/16
Fuji	10/25	10/26
Braeburn	10/25	10/26
Goldrush	11/1	11/2

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).