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Cider Digest #2019
Subject: Cider Digest #2019, 14 March 2016
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #2019 14 March 2016
Cider and Perry Discussion Forum
Contents:
what did he say? ("Mike Beck")
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Subject: what did he say?
From: "Mike Beck" <mjbeck@ujcidermill.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2016 12:24:06 -0500
I was on a grower roundtable panel for a cider orchard session in Portland,
OR last month.
I think what I said may have been taken the wrong way, maybe not.
Rumor has it, I said don't plant cider apples... Well, It might of sounded
like that. Here is what I intended for those to hear.
I did say... I cannot think of one cider apple that people should plant. I
totally said that, I will own it. (I did not know that the Jury defined
what is a cider apple) There are many I like; Dabinett, Yarlington Mill,
Porters Perfection, yada yada yada. However, they have their faults which
have been discussed in this forum. The issue is we have very little help in
academia to help with our problems. This is not the university fault. They
have to do research for people that put the food on the table. (those are
the big packers/processors/marketers) When an industry has issues with
bitter pit in HoneyCrisp they fund research to fix it. The cider industry
is just starting to fund research that will help the growing side of it.
So can I say there is a definitive variety that we should be planting, no I
can not. We simply have to big of country to even think about nailing one
down. We have more questions than answers when it comes to cider fruit.
I think I may have sounded down on High Density plantings. Let me clarify,
If I was in the business of putting the most beautiful fruit in a box to go
to the packer, hands down that system gives you the tonnage x quality x
early bearing to give you max return. For cider fruit I have to raise my
eyebrow a little bit. At $25K an acre and summer long maintenance
employees it makes the cost of entry for processing fruit extremely high. I
think I could plant a semi-dwarf orchard at ¼ the cost and less maintenance
cost per year. They do not plant cider fruit in any established cider
industry around the world in high density systems; why are we being the
guinea pigs here in America? I question fruit quality as well. I am sure
fruit from these systems will be pretty to look at compared to same from
standard systems but will it have the internal factors we desire in the
cellar? The premium California wine industry does not grow fruit for max
tonnage and certainly not external fruit factors, Possibly the premium
cider industry will have to take a page or two from their playbook. So am I
down on high density?, nope, use it where it makes financial sense to do so.
BTW, I do not have any high density plantings of any kind of fruit. I am
not in the business of taking fruit to packers/shippers and so external
fruit quality is secondary for my farming practices.
Did I sound like we should not be asking growers to plant large blocks of
cider fruit? I hope it did come out that way. We are not there yet, we do
not know what to ask for and have to many questions to take on that kind of
risk. I also wonder if the cider market is ready for it, the vast majority
of cider is still made from syrup. (Market ?)You should be asking your
grower, after doing your own exhaustive research to plant/graft a handful
of variety x and see how they work or if you have your own cidery and have
the ground, plant test plots to see what works. Thus far when growers ask
me what to plant for the cider industry, I tell them stick what has been
successful on their farm. I can not tell them to plant fruit that there is
little info on and buyers that are new to buying fruit. Do not get me
wrong, I am planting cider fruit and have many on order, I also have
pre-determined markets for the fruit I am planting, (mostly my own). I
have asked growers to plant fairly large blocks, I have verbal contracts
with them that gives them certainty of where that fruit is going.
Some cornered me after my rant and think I really burst their bubble, sorry.
Proceed with caution, cider growing is a long term proposal, make informed
decisions.
I guess I should have stated prior to speaking that I really do not know
what I am doing, I have way more questions than answers as it pertains to
cider growing. I have had things in the ground for a while, been making
cider for a while, my way is my way, not necessarily the right way. So do
I say "do not plant cider apples"... no, please do plant them and lets learn
and share together.
Mike Beck
St. John?s, MI
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End of Cider Digest #2019
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