Helping to absorb some of the abundance of apples in the market, USDA has announced it will purchase applesauce cups and cans for distribution to food banks, using 23,600 bins of apples or nearly 214,000 bushels. This is in addition to a previous $40 million purchase of processed apple products.

The Michigan Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Association, which helped facilitate the purchase, estimates it will total about $10 million, MACMA general manager Dawn Drake says.

In October, MACMA submitted a request to USDA asking for a purchase of processed apples to help alleviate the backlog of back-to-back record crops in the state. A $40 million purchase was approved by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, utilizing about 70,000 bins of apples.

Those two purchases came in addition to another $21 million buy MACMA secured in April 2023. Combined, the three USDA purchases add up to just under 2 million bushels — about 6.3% of Michigan’s total yearly harvest.

“That's one of the reasons why we’re so appreciative of our partnership with USDA, because we only ask for assistance if we are in need,” Drake notes.

“Had we not been able to get those two purchases, then all these apples would be still in storage without a home. And we would go into next year, which would be year three of carrying over inventory, and that would ultimately make negotiations with processors challenging because we wouldn't be able to achieve higher prices.”

While the newly announced purchase is open to any U.S. apple processor for bids, Drake says she’s hopeful that most of the purchase will benefit Michigan processors, with priority given to apples from MACMA members.

Source: MFB