A22-Unca»t*r Finning, Saturday, November 25, 2000 WOOSTER, Ohio The via bility of the $1.6 billion U.S. apple industry depends on the ability of U.S. producers in 36 states to meet changing con sumer demands domestically and internationally. A collabo rative project called NE-183 is the apple industry’s crystal ball into the future. Since its incep tion in 1995, researchers at ex periment stations across the U.S. and Canada have been working to provide growers with an objective and rapid analysis of the apple varieties best suited to the various apple producing states. NE-183, otherwise known as “Multidisciplinary Evaluation of New Apple Cultivars,” re ceived the NERA 2000 Award of Excellence from the Experiment Station Directors of the North east, at their annual meeting at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in For corn borer control, it’s gotta be Garsf. O2ODAOVANTA USA, Jnc Gant* u a raalatarad trademark <rt AOVANTA USA, Inc YiaMlard* la a registered trademarked Momenta CifARREiO* Prediction tyMam ia a trademark of IASf Award-Winning Project Evaluates Best Apple Varieties Wooster, Ohio. NERA is the professional association of re search directors from the land grant universities in the North east. “Since its inception in 1995, the project has evaluated 50 new apple varieties that are most likely to impact the U.S. apple industry in the future,” said Robert C. Seem, administrative advisor for the project, and asso ciate director of the NYS Agri cultural Experiment Station, in Geneva, NY. “The purpose of the project is to determine which cultivars are most precocious, have superior quality attributes such as taste, texture, firmness, and storage potential, and which cultivars are ’grower friendly’ to harvest and manage.” Researchers iden tify which cultivars are least sus ceptible to insects, fungal and bacterial injury-information that can help growers select Featured Hybrid GUM Description 84848 t 112 YieldGard* Insect Protection in medium-tall hybrid with wide adaptation, good overall agronomics, and high yield potential. 8342GLS/Bt/IT 114 Provides Gray Leaf Spot protection and CLEARFIELD* herbicide flexibility. Excellent yield and agronomic stability coupled with top-end yield punch. Also available as 8342GLS/U. Garst Modem Science-Traditional Values more sustainable production systems. The project also com pares the cost of production and profitability of new apple cul tivars, said Seem. Apple varieties originating from North America, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan are tested. The collabora tive project involves 21 states and three Canadian provinces. The list of 23 cultivars in the 1995 plantings included Brae burn, Fuji, Ginger Gold, Honey crisp, Fortune, Cameo, Goldßush and several advanced breeding selections from British Columbia, New Jersey and New York. In 1999, project partici pants planted 22 additional se lections and cultivars like Ambrosia, Autumn Gold, Chi nook, Delblush, Hampshire, Ju bilee Fuji, Pink Lady, Pinova, Runkel, Scarlet O’Hara Silken, and Zesta. The intention is to collect uniform data sets from each planting for at least six years, but researchers may maintain plots for individual study thereafter. Thus, even after the collective work is com pleted, the plantings remain as a resource. There are two NE-183 evalua tion plots located in New York. One is at the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, where it is managed by Susan K. Brown, director of Cornell Uni versity’s apple breeding pro gram, horticulturalist lan Merwin, and Cy Lee, posthar vest physiologist. The other is at the Hudson Valley Laboratory, in Highland, NY, where it is managed by plant pathologist David A. Rosenberger, superin tendent of the Lab, horticultur alist James R. Schupp. and entomologist Richard Straub. “Unprecedented care has been taken to insure uniformity of the plantings and the data Put away all your worries about com borer resistance. Garst® has a plan that beats the com borers! First, if you’ve experienced com borer damage in the past, plant Garst YieldGard® Insect Protected Com for whole plant, season-long protection against com borers. Second, use a Hp Garst naturally resistant non-Bt hybrid for com borer refuge acres. Two Garst hybrid options help you fight com borer problems before they start. And, they can minimize your worries about com borer resistance. To learn more about the Garst Double Option for com borers, see your local Garst Guy or call toll-free: 1-888-GO-GARST. www.garstseed.com collection protocols,” said Rosenberger. “Test cultivars are carefully selected from a single nursery, while planting, fertil ization, pest control and other production procedures are de fined by committee and modi fied only under careful scrutiny by the project participants.” “Establishing a new orchard costs more than $lO,OOO per acre, and most orchards require at least six years to reach full production,” said Rosenberger. “Selecting cultivars for new plantings is one of the riskiest decisions that an apple grower must make. The NE-183 project provides growers with informa tion that is essential for selecting cultivars best suited for their own planting locations and mar keting strategies.” Research orchards in all 21 states provide a focal point for growers and industry representatives to ac- tually see and evaluate these new cultivars first hand. State twi light and extension tours provide an excel lent means to commu nicate the group’s findings in a practical, efficient and timely manner. The information de veloped by NE-183 is highly sought after by apple growers because it represents the most authoritative source of information that a grower can use prior to planting a new or chard. NE-183 has been recognized in the American Fruit Ticahural Experiment 'Stations. Apple cultivar eval uations fropv'at least 25 experMent stations throughout the U.S. and Canada were on going before the NE -183 project was initiated, but evalua tions were often con ducted informally, and results rarely pub lished in scientific journals. Trials were rarely coordinated across broad geo graphic regions, nor could data be directly compared because of differences in planting dates, rootstocks used, combinations of cul tivars chosen for eval uations, and data collection methods. “Considerable effi ciency in total effort and improvement in the quality of informa tion generated has been achieved with the coordinated cultivar evaluation program initiated under NE -183,” said Rosen berger. The latest informa tion on new apple cul tivars can be accessed on the web at http:/ /www. VIRTUALORCHAR D.net/nelB3 Jr f See Lancaster Farming Cow Cam Visit our Website at www. lancasterfarming.com
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers