Farmers now need to eat meat; farmers also need Karaoke. They need more money. They are not planting apples for fun
A contact at a Chinese AJC processor said that the agreement between the four large processors was essential, otherwise the whole industry would have been destroyed by the sky-high fruit price. However, he acknowledged that the agreement was powerless in the face of the farmers ability to secure higher prices for their fruit from other markets. A farmer can pick up to 500 kilos of apples in a day (maybe Schwarzenegger can pick up to 800kg). If apple sells below CNY1 000/tonne, that means, if I were the farmer, that I would rather see the apple rot on the trees and I could find a temporary job elsewhere and earn more money. Please note: farmers now need to eat meat; farmers also need Karaoke. They need more money. They are not planting apples for fun.
Warning signs point to massive 2012 global apple juice shortage. Foodnews 21/10/2011 Issue 39 vol 42