YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — A Washington State University agriculture expert says the state’s organic apple growers need to gain a better understanding of how much of their crop is sold without an organic label.
David Granatstein says growers lose money when organic crops, which cost more to grow and bring in higher retail prices, are instead sold as conventional fruit. But he says nobody knows just how often that happens and how much money is lost.
He also said organic apple acreage declined in 2010 for the first time in many years.
Granatstein addressed organic growers at the annual convention of the Washington State Horticultural Association, the group representing tree fruit growers.
