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Maine · crop watch

Maine apple crop

USDA last rated the 2023 Maine apple crop for the week ending Oct 8, when 83% was good or excellent. Harvest stood at 93% complete. USDA's August forecast puts the 2018 crop at 48.0 million lb, up 22.4% from last year's final of 39.2.

Last rated week ending Oct 8, 2023

Good to excellent · last reading

83%of the crop

Share of the 2023 crop rated good or excellent for the week ending Oct 8.

–

93%

Harvested

As of Oct 29.

▲

48.0

million lb, 2018 forecast

+22.4% against last year's final crop.

Analysis

Week ending Sep 27

Maine apple crop rated 77% good to excellent

As of the week ending September 27, 2026, Maine's apple crop was rated 77% good to excellent, unchanged from the prior week, with 50% in the good category and 27% excellent. Harvest reached 50% complete, ahead of the five-year average of 45% but behind last year's 58% pace at the same point. A forecast released in August put production at 48 million pounds, up 22.4% from last year's final of 39.2 million pounds and above the two-year-ago final of 33.9 million pounds. The next USDA condition report will show whether harvest keeps closing the gap with last year's pace.

Written from USDA data and source reports

Weekly ratings

Crop condition, 2023

Bars are the full USDA rating split each week. The dashed line is the five-year average for good plus excellent; the dotted line is last year.

2026202520242023202220212020
Maine apple crop condition, 20230%25%50%75%100%Week ending Jun 11: Very poor 0%, Poor 5%, Fair 60%, Good 35%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 35% (5-yr avg —, last year 46%)Week ending Jun 18: Very poor 0%, Poor 10%, Fair 60%, Good 30%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 30% (5-yr avg 75%, last year 100%)Week ending Jun 25: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 100%, Good 0%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 0% (5-yr avg 73%, last year 95%)Week ending Jul 2: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 100%, Good 0%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 0% (5-yr avg 84%, last year 84%)Week ending Jul 9: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 100%, Good 0%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 0% (5-yr avg 87%, last year 91%)Week ending Jul 16: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 78%, Good 22%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 22% (5-yr avg 81%, last year 73%)Week ending Jul 23: Very poor 0%, Poor 3%, Fair 79%, Good 15%, Excellent 3% — good+excellent 18% (5-yr avg 80%, last year 91%)Week ending Jul 30: Very poor 1%, Poor 0%, Fair 14%, Good 85%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 85% (5-yr avg 80%, last year 90%)Week ending Aug 6: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 73%, Good 18%, Excellent 9% — good+excellent 27% (5-yr avg 77%, last year 69%)Week ending Aug 13: Very poor 0%, Poor 3%, Fair 74%, Good 18%, Excellent 5% — good+excellent 23% (5-yr avg 78%, last year 70%)Week ending Aug 20: Very poor 0%, Poor 19%, Fair 28%, Good 37%, Excellent 16% — good+excellent 53% (5-yr avg 75%, last year 70%)Week ending Aug 27: Very poor 0%, Poor 10%, Fair 25%, Good 59%, Excellent 6% — good+excellent 65% (5-yr avg 90%, last year 90%)Week ending Sep 3: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 35%, Good 59%, Excellent 6% — good+excellent 65% (5-yr avg 88%, last year 95%)Week ending Sep 10: Very poor 0%, Poor 1%, Fair 47%, Good 50%, Excellent 2% — good+excellent 52% (5-yr avg 85%, last year 90%)Week ending Sep 17: Very poor 3%, Poor 7%, Fair 25%, Good 61%, Excellent 4% — good+excellent 65% (5-yr avg 81%, last year 65%)Week ending Sep 24: Very poor 9%, Poor 16%, Fair 23%, Good 43%, Excellent 9% — good+excellent 52% (5-yr avg 86%, last year 80%)Week ending Oct 1: Very poor 0%, Poor 3%, Fair 26%, Good 64%, Excellent 7% — good+excellent 71% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Week ending Oct 8: Very poor 0%, Poor 7%, Fair 10%, Good 31%, Excellent 52% — good+excellent 83% (5-yr avg —, last year —)−58 pts — week ending Aug 6−58 ptsUSDA forecast — week ending Aug 13USDA forecastHarvest begins — week ending Aug 20Harvest beginsJun 11Jul 2Jul 23Aug 13Sep 3Sep 24
Very poorPoorFairGoodExcellent5-yr avg good+excellentLast year

Latest: 83% good or excellent, week ending Oct 8. Hover a bar for the full breakdown.

Field progress

Green tip, 2023

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Maine apple green tip, 20230%50%100%Green tip, week ending Apr 16: 0% (5-yr avg —, last year 0%)Green tip, week ending Apr 23: 13% (5-yr avg 18%, last year 15%)Green tip, week ending Apr 30: 30% (5-yr avg 37%, last year 38%)Green tip, week ending May 7: 60% (5-yr avg 59%, last year 58%)Green tip, week ending May 14: 92% (5-yr avg 75%, last year 88%)Green tip, week ending May 21: 100% (5-yr avg 89%, last year 99%)Green tip, week ending May 28: 100% (5-yr avg —, last year 100%)Apr 16Apr 23Apr 30May 7May 14May 21May 28
This year5-yr avgLast year

Green tip: 100% as of May 28.

Field progress

Pink, 2023

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Maine apple pink, 20230%50%100%Pink, week ending Apr 30: 10% (5-yr avg —, last year 0%)Pink, week ending May 7: 15% (5-yr avg 10%, last year 5%)Pink, week ending May 14: 45% (5-yr avg 33%, last year 48%)Pink, week ending May 21: 85% (5-yr avg 63%, last year 85%)Pink, week ending May 28: 95% (5-yr avg 83%, last year 99%)Apr 30May 7May 14May 21May 28
This year5-yr avgLast year

Pink: 95% as of May 28 (5-yr avg 83%).

Field progress

Full bloom, 2023

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Maine apple full bloom, 20230%50%100%Full bloom, week ending May 14: 10% (5-yr avg —, last year 28%)Full bloom, week ending May 21: 70% (5-yr avg 46%, last year 72%)Full bloom, week ending May 28: 85% (5-yr avg 73%, last year 91%)Full bloom, week ending Jun 4: 100% (5-yr avg 83%, last year 99%)May 14May 21May 28Jun 4
This year5-yr avgLast year

Full bloom: 100% as of Jun 4 (5-yr avg 83%).

Field progress

Petal fall, 2023

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Maine apple petal fall, 20230%50%100%Petal fall, week ending May 14: 0% (5-yr avg —, last year 0%)Petal fall, week ending May 21: 15% (5-yr avg —, last year 30%)Petal fall, week ending May 28: 65% (5-yr avg 32%, last year 69%)Petal fall, week ending Jun 4: 85% (5-yr avg 44%, last year 92%)Petal fall, week ending Jun 11: 98% (5-yr avg 58%, last year 99%)May 14May 21May 28Jun 4Jun 11
This year5-yr avgLast year

Petal fall: 98% as of Jun 11 (5-yr avg 58%).

Field progress

Fruit set, 2023

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Maine apple fruit set, 20230%50%100%Fruit set, week ending May 21: 0% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Fruit set, week ending May 28: 0% (5-yr avg —, last year 0%)Fruit set, week ending Jun 4: 25% (5-yr avg 17%, last year 21%)Fruit set, week ending Jun 11: 68% (5-yr avg 32%, last year 36%)Fruit set, week ending Jun 18: 88% (5-yr avg 57%, last year 70%)Fruit set, week ending Jul 2: 13% (5-yr avg —, last year —)May 21May 28Jun 4Jun 11Jun 18Jul 2
This year5-yr avgLast year

Fruit set: 13% as of Jul 2.

Field progress

Harvested, 2023

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Maine apple harvested, 20230%50%100%Harvested, week ending Jul 30: 0% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Harvested, week ending Aug 6: 0% (5-yr avg —, last year 0%)Harvested, week ending Aug 13: 0% (5-yr avg —, last year 0%)Harvested, week ending Aug 20: 2% (5-yr avg —, last year 9%)Harvested, week ending Aug 27: 5% (5-yr avg —, last year 10%)Harvested, week ending Sep 3: 10% (5-yr avg —, last year 15%)Harvested, week ending Sep 10: 15% (5-yr avg —, last year 19%)Harvested, week ending Sep 17: 20% (5-yr avg 25%, last year 24%)Harvested, week ending Sep 24: 43% (5-yr avg 38%, last year 31%)Harvested, week ending Oct 1: 45% (5-yr avg 49%, last year 35%)Harvested, week ending Oct 8: 50% (5-yr avg 63%, last year 56%)Harvested, week ending Oct 15: 75% (5-yr avg 74%, last year 77%)Harvested, week ending Oct 22: 90% (5-yr avg 87%, last year 89%)Harvested, week ending Oct 29: 93% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Jul 30Aug 13Aug 27Sep 10Sep 24Oct 8Oct 22
This year5-yr avgLast year

Harvested: 93% as of Oct 29.

Forecast record

How the forecast moved to final

Each season's first USDA forecast against the final estimate, with the revision between them.

Maine apple crop: USDA first forecast vs final0204060million lb2010: no forecast · final 31.0 million lb20102011: no forecast · final 29.0 million lb20112012: no forecast · final 30.0 million lb20122013: no forecast · final 27.0 million lb20132014: no forecast · final 38.0 million lb20142015: no forecast · final 35.6 million lb20152016: no forecast · final 33.9 million lb20162017: no forecast · final 39.2 million lb20172018: Aug forecast 48.0 million lb · final pending2018
First forecastFinalFinal pending
Crop yearFirst forecast (million lb)FinalRevisionCrop valueShare of US
201848.0 Augustpending———
2017—39.2—$16M0.3%
2016—33.9—$16M0.3%
2015—35.6—$18M0.4%
2014—38.0—$15M0.3%
2013—27.0—$13M0.3%
2012—30.0—$15M0.3%
2011—29.0—$11M0.3%
2010—31.0—$13M0.3%

Revision is how far the final estimate moved from the season's first forecast — the practical measure of how much weight to give an early number.

Utilization

Where the crop went

Fresh market against processing and unsold volume, by crop year.

Maine apple crop: fresh market vs processing010203040million lb2010: fresh 24.0, processing 5.0, not sold 0.0 million lb — 83% fresh20102011: fresh 17.0, processing 5.5, not sold 5.0 million lb — 62% fresh20112012: fresh 22.5, processing 5.0, not sold 1.0 million lb — 79% fresh20122013: fresh 22.5, processing 3.0, not sold 1.0 million lb — 85% fresh20132014: fresh 29.6, processing 7.2, not sold 0.4 million lb — 80% fresh20142015: fresh 33.1, processing 2.0, not sold 0.5 million lb — 93% fresh20152016: fresh 22.5, processing 11.2, not sold 0.2 million lb — 66% fresh20162017: fresh 27.5, processing 10.0, not sold 1.7 million lb — 70% fresh2017
Fresh marketProcessingNot sold

Source: USDA NASS Crop Progress (weekly, April–November) and Crop Production reports. This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS.

Updated September 29, 2026

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