We expect that reduced labor costs associated with dormant and/or summer pruning will improve profitability for these growers. In each orchard in the project, reduced-intensity pruning programs will be evaluated to assess effects on crop yield, fruit quality, juice quality, and potential profitability. Project objectives from proposal:Ĭommercial orchards in Vermont have begun to shift management of select approximately 100 acres (about 8% of total acreage) of traditional dessert cultivars (i.e., ‘McIntosh’, ‘Cortland’, etc.) to low-input systems in order to reduce input costs and meet lower price points for apples from cideries compared to fresh market apples (Becot, Bradshaw et al. In addition, the investigator is a regular presenter at local, regional, and national meetings on apple and cider production. The principal investigator maintains an email list of growers and cider makers with over 200 subscribers and a blog which receives over 2,000 unique page views annually. Results will be disseminated locally, regionally, and nationally to stakeholders. Standard measurements for labor hours, sunlight interception, crop yield, and juice quality will be collected and analyzed to determine potential profitability of each system. In two Vermont orchards, mature ‘McIntosh’ or ‘Empire’ trees will receive four pruning treatments: (1) ‘light’ dormant pruning with no summer pruning (2) light pruning followed by summer pruning (3) ‘commercial’ dormant pruning with no summer pruning and (4) commercial pruning followed by summer pruning.
This was proposed by the collaborating stakeholder in order to evaluate reduced-labor practices that may improve profitability of cider apple production in Vermont. In order to meet demands for fruit supply at lower price points, growers must adapt management to reduce inputs and labor without compromising crop yield or quality.
In Vermont, orchards are being managed specifically to provide fruit to this expanding market, but prices paid for processing fruit remain below those for fresh market apples. in recent years with an annualized growth rate of 50% between 20 and revenues totaling $292.5 million in 2014. Hard cider production has increased dramatically in the U.S.
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