Apple lovers will have plenty to pick this fall. 

The Michigan Apple Committee estimates growers will harvest about 30 million bushels of fruit in 2025. That’s about 1.2 billion pounds. 

Good weather helps

The committee’s executive director, Diane Smith, says the weather has been perfect for growing apples.

“We’ve had a little hail here and there, but generally that stays localized and doesn’t affect the overall crop,” she says. 

Michigan has more than 850 family-owned apple farms and over 17 million trees covering 38,000 acres. 

Smith says new farming methods have yielded several bumper crops.

“We’ve gone to more high-density planting,” she says. “So instead of having 250 trees to an acre, you can have up to 2,000 trees per acre.”

The future could look different

While the weather has been ideal, Smith says climate change could eventually affect the industry.

“As temperatures continue to rise, we’re seeing less rain at different times during the summer,” she says. “In 10 or 15 years, there could be a shift in some of the varieties that we grow.”

Michigan is one of the top three apple producing states, behind Washington. It competes with New York for second place. 

Smith says the industry also competes with other fruits, and that could take a bite out of sales.

“People aren’t eating as many apples as maybe they used to,” she says. “You go into the grocery store, and you can get different products year-round that maybe before you couldn’t get.”

Labor is another challenge

Smith says most Michigan apple farms rely on migrant workers to pick the fruit in the fall. She says that’s costly, but necessary.

“We just don’t have enough domestic workers that want to do the harvest,” she says. “Not many people just want a job for six weeks.”

Smith says she is not aware of any immigration raids at Michigan apple farms this summer. She also says tariffs have had little impact, though some producers face higher prices for imported chemicals to spray their crops. But she says most growers utilize organic methods.

“They don’t want to spray unless they absolutely have to,” she says.

Wayne State University will field a women’s soccer team in the fall of 2026. It will be the school’s first new varsity sport in over a decade.

WSU’s Director of Athletics, Erika Wallace, says the first order of business is hiring a head coach this year.

“We’re looking at someone who has ties to the area for recruitment purposes,” she says. “We’re also looking at head coaching experience, assistant coaching experience, some club coaching experience as well.”

Expanding opportunities for women

Wallace reviewed the athletic program when she took the job and found a need for more women student-athletes. She says adding soccer will help WSU comply with Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education.

“Proportionality is one of the prongs that you look at,” she says. “We have to make accommodations in order to stay relevant and in compliance with Title IX.”

Wallace says this will attract more students to WSU.

“We’re the only school in our conference that doesn’t have women’s soccer,” she says. “People will want to come here and play.”

The support is there

Wallace says funding for the new women’s soccer team will come from the athletic department’s general fund as well as philanthropic donations.

She also says Detroit’s soccer culture will sustain the program.

“We have some of the best clubs in the country here,” Wallace says.

Wayne State has a partnership with Detroit City Football Club, which fields men’s, women’s and youth sides.

Wallace says WSU will make some upgrades to the soccer pitch behind Tom Adams Field before the women’s team starts play.