Bulletin No. 279 - The Fruit Tree Situation in Utah

The fruit industry in Utah is not large when compared with the total production of the United States. The year 1935 was a favorable fruit season for Utah and yet the state produced only 0.54 percent of the United States\u27 apple crop, 1.30 percent of the peach crop, 0.31 percent of the pears, and 3.72 percent of all cherries. Utah does, however, produce between 10 and 15 percent of all sweet cherries. Even though the Utah fruit industry represents such a small part of the national industry, a great many people of the state are dependent upon it, either wholly or in part, for their living. The data of this survey show that there are 2, 969 commercial plantings and 6,241 home orchards in Utah. Although there are a few moderately large orchards in the state, as a rule the orchards are relatively small. Assuming a commercial orchard to be one that contains more than 25 trees of any one fruit, the average size of such orchards in Utah is approximately 483 trees or 4.5 acres