LANSING, MI (AP)-- Michigan apple growers say they expect to pick a record crop this year.
The Michigan Apple Committee is forecasting a harvest of 31 million bushels. That would be an increase of 7 million bushels over 2015 and the biggest ever for the state, which averages about 22.8 million bushels annually.
Executive Director Diane Smith of the producer-funded cooperative says Michigan's output has been rising steadily. She credits technological advances and a rising number of growers planting "high-density" orchards, which have 1,000 or more trees per acre.
The state has more than 11.3 million apple trees in commercial production on 825 farms.
Michigan Apples are typically shipped from mid-August through the following June.
