Late August rains were welcomed by apple growers in the Annapolis Valley says Emily Lutz, executive director for the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association. 

In an interview she gave to CTV News, she said, “This year has been really good compared to 2025. We’ve had nice consistent rainfall amounts every few weeks. We’re still seeing some trees struggling from last year in the extreme drought conditions that they faced. So, we are seeing some tree collapse across different orchards, which means those trees are literally dead. They’re not going to come back. But overall, we are seeing a big rebound and we’re really, really happy with what we’re seeing on the trees.”

Lutz explains that apple growing is very capital-intensive, so the 2026 crop year offers an opportunity to rebound. 

“Anytime there’s a good year, farmers can say, ‘How can I grow better next year? How can I make my operation more efficient? Which varieties should I be investing in for the future? For the consumer?’ All those conversations become possible in a good year versus a bad year, when it’s just making it through the next fiscal.”

With well-timed rains in 2026, the apple crop is sizing up well. 

“We support a number of different industries,” said Lutz. “We support pies, we support juice, we support cider. It is good for us to have a good crop because those tangible benefits just trickle down and trickle out into other areas, into local markets, grocery stores, even just the availability of local apples throughout the length of the season, we can pretty much supply Nova Scotia grocery stores with Nova Scotia apples for a full calendar year.”

Source: Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association August 28, 2026 newsletter