Slim pickings: what explains the unusual apple shortage in this Blue Mountains orchard? | Farming

At this time of year, Pine Crest Orchard in the Blue Mountains town of Bilpin would usually have about 1,000 visitors a day picking their own fruit from trees laden with apples.

But this season, the trees are mostly bare – and no one really knows why.

Orchardist John Galbraith, who owns and runs…