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Warm Spring, Hot Summer Impact NY Apple Crop

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - As we enter the Labor Day weekend, the thoughts of many will turn to fall, and with that comes thoughts of a New York State apple.

WCBS 880's Marla Diamond On The Story

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New York apples are in greenmarkets now, but supplies are limited.

"We are looking at one of the smaller-sized crops in many many many years," Jim Allen, President of the New York Apple Association, told WCBS 880 reporter Marla Diamond.

The harvest is expected to be about 14 million bushels - half of what it was last year.

He said that not since 1945 has the Empire State seen such a reduced crop due to weather.

"That's because we had an extremely warm March and then we had a typically cold April. So we had a number of frost events that really thinned out the crop," he said.

The summer heat also affected the color of some varieties.

Early apples like the Gala and Honeycrisp may be less appealing to the eye, but Allen said they taste pretty good.

"If the color of the Macintosh isn't quite red enough, it certainly isn't going to affect the flavor of the apple," he said, though he admitted it might affect the crunch.

What's your favorite variety of apple? Sound off in the comments section below.

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