When you combine a record crop, plus the West Coast port shutdowns or slowdowns, this is what happens.

As shocking as it may seem, Washington apple growers have no other choice, really.  This year, according to the Washington State Apple Commission, many apple exporters lost at least three weeks of their season due to the labor strikes that shut down or slowed seaports along the West Coast.

Then along came a record apple crop, according to Todd Fryhover of the Apple Commission.  But due to the slowdown, growers, marketers and sellers were not able to find buyers and the apples could not be sold profitably to markets or producers.

So what do you do with a record crop?  There's only so much storage, it's also affected by seasonal issues, so about $100 million worth of apples have been dumped in fields all over Washington state's apple growing regions.

They will stay there, where they will rot, ferment, provide plenty of food for insects birds and animals, and eventually decay into the soil.

A sad state of affairs, largely triggered by the union-led shutdowns and slowdowns at our ports.

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