Michigan growers in 1996 and 1997 planted more than 1 million new apple trees. Tart cherry growers added 130,000 new trees during that period and peach growers 113,000. The 1997 fruit census indicated more farms producing apples than any other fruit. Apples have the highest value of production of Michigan fruits. It adds even more through the inputs that apple growers purchase locally to grow their crops.
Apples are Michigan's most broadly dispersed fruit.
Tart cherries are concentrated near Lake Michigan in the southwest counties and from north of Muskegon to the Grand Traverse Bay area. The blueberry region is mainly near Lake Michigan from north of Benton Harbor to near Muskegon, with scattered acreage also on the east side of the Lower Peninsula. Most of Michigan's major urban centers are just a short drive from apple orchards. Tart cherries are harvested in a rather short timespan in early summer, peaches from late July or early August to early September and blueberries usually from approximately the Fourth of July until about Labor Day. Apples are available in fresh form longer than any other Michigan fruit.