Photo by Tom Rivers – Apples await to be picked at an Orleans County orchard. After a disastrous 2012, New York fruit growers are poised for a record harvest this year.

Press release
NY Apple Association

The apple harvest is now officially underway across the state of New York, from the lower Hudson Valley to the upper Champlain Valley and throughout Orleans County – and growers are harvesting a record crop, the New York Apple Association reports.

The state’s nearly 700 apple growers are expected to pick about 32 million bushels by the time harvest concludes in November, a modern record.

Last year’s crop was decimated by late spring frosts that killed many tree buds. The 2012 crop was 17.1 million bushels. New York’s average production is 29.5 million bushels of apples.

Excellent weather conditions – beginning during this year’s bloom and growing season, and continuing into harvest so far – mean that this year’s fruit will be large and juicy, with high natural sugars. Meanwhile, recent new plantings mean that consumers will find more of the New York state apple varieties that they love.

“Good news, New York state apple fans: This year’s apple harvest is on time, and is now in full swing across New York state,” said NYAA President Jim Allen. “Our consumers who have been waiting for us to get back into the market after last year’s short crop will have lots to celebrate this fall.”

Harvest of New York’s top variety McIntosh is now underway in the eastern part of the state and will soon be harvesting statewide, Allen reported. Harvest of all other varieties, including consumer favorites including Zestar, Gala and HoneyCrisp, also has started across the state.

Farm markets across the state are now stocked with new-crop fruit and fresh apple cider, and retail stores are stocking their shelves. Pick-your-own orchards are also open statewide, offering wholesome, healthy family fun.

NYAA’s consulting dietitian also celebrated arrival of the new crop as the state’s schoolchildren head back to class.

“Apples are the perfect addition to every school lunch,” said Linda Quinn, MS, RD. “Their natural sweetness comes packaged with a big serving of fiber so that fuel is released to the body more slowly, giving your child healthy energy while leaving her feeling fuller for longer.”

To promote this year’s crop, NYAA has enlisted Rochester native and international soccer star Abby Wambach. In July, Wambach became the women’s world record holder for career goals scored. Television and radio commercials featuring Abby are airing now. She will also be featured in in-store signage starting later this fall.

Collins pushes for tax code changes for cider

Photo By Tom Rivers – Congressman Chris Collins joins members of the Orleans County farm community on Tuesday to promote the Cider Industry Deserves Equal Regulation Act, which would reduce the excise tax on hard cider. Collins is pictured inside the tasting room at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina.

MEDINA – Hard cider was popular more than a century ago and then went mostly dormant until a recent comeback.

The industry is on a resurgence and its sales have tripled since 2007. But the potential may not be realized due to an outdated tax structure that sometimes taxes hard cider to the same rate as wine.

“Hard cider is growing leaps and bounds,” said Congressman Chris Collins, R-Clarence, who has introduced the Cider Industry Deserves Equal Regulation Act with Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon.

The CIDER Act would change the definition of hard cider in federal tax law. Currently, hard cider is taxed at different rates based on its alcohol and carbonation level, both of which can fluctuate, especially for small craft operators.

“The hard cider industry is poised for major growth and unless the federal tax code is reasonably adjusted, our producers and farmers are going to miss out on this economic opportunity,” Collins said. “If these simple changes to the tax code are made, not only will the American cider industry expand and become more competitive and profitable, but our local apple growers will see a major demand for their product.”

The average bottle of hard cider contains the juice of three apples. If there is more demand for hard cider, New York growers will see more demand for apples, especially those at juice-grade, which will strengthen the apple industry.

“This change would be good for the economy, jobs and Orleans County,” Collins said at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina.

Wendy Wilson, the winery’s president, said a change in the tax code, taxing hard cider at a reduced rate, would save the winery about $8,000 annually in taxes. That money could be used for more marketing to draw more people to the area, she said.

The CIDER Act proposes three changes for the industry:

Increases the carbonation level allowed for hard cider. Cider consumers expect a high level of carbonation, equivalent to that of most beer. Current federal tax code does not permit this desired carbonation level without reclassifying the project as champagne, which is taxed at a much higher rate.

Increases the alcohol content allowed in hard cider. This change will align the alcohol content with the natural sugar content of apples. The outdated definition of hard cider only allows up to 7 percent alcohol by volume before it is taxed as wine.

Allows pears to be used in hard cider production. Pear hard cider is a popular flavor in the international hard cider market and prohibiting it weakens the U.S. cider industry’s ability to compete globally and hampers sustainable growth.

Collins is the lead Republican sponsor of the CIDER Act in the House of Representatives. He said it could be passed as a standalone bill or perhaps be included in the Farm Bill or other legislation.

Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association, said the CIDER Act would be a big benefit to apple growers and cider makers.

“Our state has a long and trusted tradition of producing the best apple cider, and with this legislation, this tradition will continue and expand with new cider options,” Allen said.

Press release, Congressman Chris Collins

MEDINA – Congressman Chris Collins (R-Clarence) will stop at LynOaken Farms and Leonard Oakes Estate Winery today to discuss the Cider Industry Deserves Equal Regulation Act.

Collins, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, introduced the bipartisan CIDER Act that would change the outdated definition of hard cider in federal tax law, allowing the industry to expand and boosting demand for apples, including those grown in New York.

Collins will detail the legislation during a 4 p.m. visit at LynOaken Farms and Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina, 10609 Ridge Rd.

The business both grows apples and produces hard cider. Collins will also be joined by members of Orleans County’s agricultural community.

BARRE – The Erie Canal tends to get all the attention as a man-made waterway in these parts, but Orleans County is home to another “big ditch,” the series of drainage improvements used to create the Elba Muck about a century ago.

The Elba Muck covers about 7,000 acres in Genesee and Orleans counties. Many immigrants and woodsman cleared a swamp and built 90 miles of ditches to drain the land. Farmers in the two counties formed a special watershed district and they pay to pump water with sump pumps and other devices and keep the land from becoming waterlogged.

Driving out to the muck is like visiting a different planet with the dark black soil. It’s worth a drive out there to check out the place that brought many hard-working immigrants to our community.

The muck remains highly productive farmland. Two Albion farms, Triple G and Panek, are among the 10 farms that still work the land at the former swamp.

‘This is a very serious weed problem.’- Christy Hoepting, Cornell vegetable specialist

Photos by Tom Rivers – Christy Hoepting, a vegetable researcher and specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Extension, holds a sowthistle plant that she dug up from the muck today. The sowthistle grows taller than onions, and the weed has stems that stretch horizontally, competing with onions.

BARRE – The enemy grows tall – and sideways. It blocks light from onion plants and encroaches on their space.

Perennial Sowthistle is a new muck menace and it has onion growers and researchers worried. Growers don’t have herbicides in their arsenal that can kill it without hurting the onions. Some trials are showing some chemical sprays can slow the weed. The only proven way to take out the plants within an onion field is to dig them up. But plucking the weeds could multiply the plants if the underground stems are ripped.

“This is a very serious new weed problem,” said onion researcher Christy Hoepting, a specialist with the Cornell Vegetable Program.

She is working to develop tactics to take out the plant that can tower 4 or 5 feet high. She is starting at the beginning because the powerful weed hasn’t been studied in onion regions outside of New York. Some fields in Oswego and Livingston County also are contending with the problem.

“We’ve seen it before in New York, but this year it has just exploded,” Hoepting said on the muck today.

Onion growers and researchers met today for “donut hour” on the muck, a weekly gathering when they share about challenges and successes in raising the annual onion crop. Pictured, clockwise from bottom left, include: Chuck Barie of CY Farms; Guy Smith of Triple G Farms; Elizabeth Buck, a program assistant with the Cornell Vegetable Program; Courtney Hill, a technician with the Cornell Vegetable Program; and Christy Hoepting, a vegetable specialist for Cornell.

Some crops such as corn are fighters and can compete with weeds for nutrients in the soil. But onions aren’t in that category. Weeds can overpower them, hogging nutrients.

Growers worry the sowthistle will result in smaller yields because of the weed’s suffocating underground stems that can reach 6 feet sideways. Those stems are called rhizones and Hoepting said they have “explosive reproductive capabilities.”

The plant also towers over onions, shielding sunlight that the onions need to grow.

The muck farmers have spent more time hand weeding their fields this year, only to see the sowthistle pop back. The weed is a perennial and it can easily survive a brutal Western New York winter.

Farmers plan to fight the sowthistle once the onions are done. Some of the growers are planning a chemical burn-down of the weed after the harvest. Growers will let the sowthistle grow back until it has enough critical mass to absorb an herbicide that will burn back all the top growth. The herbicide will move underground where it will kill the roots, Hoepting said. Those herbicides will also kill onions, so they must be applied after the onions are harvested.

Hoepting and Cornell researchers also are experimenting with herbicides, varying applications at different stages of the sowthistle’s development to figure out the right strategy to kill the weed within an onion crop and also after harvest.

One grower rotated onions this year from his field in Livingston County. Corn was able to better compete with sowthistle, said Matt Mortellaro who also grows onions on the Elba muck. He doesn’t want to rotate the onions in the Elba muck because they are a high-value crop. But the persistence and strength of the sowthistle may force him to switch to corn.

The Elba muck includes the towns of Barre and Clarendon in Orleans County. Most of the onions are grown in the Orleans part of the muck, where the muck is deeper.

Despite the struggles with the sowthistle, and a very rainy spring, growers say they expect a decent crop this year.

“Early in the year we had wind damage and then all the rain,” said Guy Smith, co-owner of Triple G Farms. “But we’ve had good weather in July and August. It looks like it will be a good year, but we still have a ways to go.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

On Lower Lake Road in Barker, just across the Orleans County line in Niagara County, the corn is looking good at Atwater Farms, a dairy with several grain silos that are rural landmarks.

Courtesy of Farm Credit – Farm Credit East’s 2013 interns include front row, from left: Samantha Graf, Christian Carrion and Kaitlyn Miller of Albion. Back row: Alyssa Guilianelli, Darren Fuller, Gregory Murray, Casey Wells and Ashley Simmons.

Press release, Farm Credit East

BATAVIA – Farm Credit East continues its successful college intern program for college students in 2013 with eight interns focused on careers in agriculture.

The group includes Kaitlyn Miller of Albion, who is working out of Farm Credit’s Batavia office. She formatted all the policies and executive orders for Farm Credit’s EastNet – the organization’s Internet site. She also updated the Young, Beginner and Small Farmer Report that is submitted annually to Farm Credit Administration.

Miller will be returning to St. John Fisher this fall for her senior year. She is the daughter of Richard and Sharon Miller.

The 12-week internship opportunity is offered to college juniors each summer. Interns are placed throughout Farm Credit East branch offices. During the experience, students earn an inside look into Farm Credit East and the various careers available by shadowing employees of all different roles. Each intern also completes a major project, many of which fulfill business plan initiatives. These projects contribute valuable information to be used in reports and future planning.

“Our internship program serves as an excellent recruiting tool to maintain Farm Credit East’s commitment to the Northeast agriculture industry,” said Bill Lipinski, CEO of Farm Credit East. “Our internship advisors work hard to put together a well-rounded experience so that each intern is exposed to agriculture native to that area.”

Besides Miller, this year’s Farm Credit East team of eight interns included: Christian Carrion, Cornell University; Darren Fuller, Hamilton College; Samantha Graf, University of Connecticut; Alyssa Guilianelli, Delaware Valley College; Gregory Murray, Cornell University; Ashley Simmons, SUNY Cobleskill; and Casey Wells, Western New England University.

Farm Credit East is the largest lender to Northeast agriculture. It implements the internship program for individuals working towards degrees in agribusiness, accounting, finance or similar fields.

For more information on the Farm Credit East internship program, please contact Briana Beebe at Briana.Beebe@FarmCreditEast.com.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Apples grow in this orchard in Gaines earlier this week.

Press release, NY Apple Association

FISHERS – New York state apple growers are back, and they mean business – lots more business this year because of a bigger, better crop with more of the varieties consumers love.

That’s the trade report from a conference call of leading apple growers from across the state that was held July 25. The call was hosted by New York Apple Association, which issued a statement today about the impending big crop.

Growers said this year’s crop would be 100 percent or more than their typical crop due to near-perfect growing conditions, and recent new plantings now coming into production.

This year’s harvest is expected to begin on time and proceed on schedule, with the first shipments of apples arriving at market mid-August. Fruit size and sugars should be excellent as growers have enjoyed close to perfect growing conditions this year – strong bloom, good pollination and plenty of sunlight, heat and moisture.

New York state apple shippers will have more supplies of popular varieties including HoneyCrisp, Gala, McIntosh and Empire because of new plantings over the past 5 to 6 years that are now figuratively – and literally – bearing fruit.

“We want retailers to know that we have more than rebounded from last year, thanks to much more benevolent weather and smart growers who’ve been planting more of what consumers want,” said NYAA President Jim Allen, who hosted the grower conference call. “Call your shippers today to start planning your New York state apple promotions.”

Allen noted that harvest bins, packing capacity and storage space are sufficient to allow an orderly progression to market.

NYAA’s grower leaders forecasted the 2013 New York apple crop will easily meet the state’s 5-year average production of 29 million bushels, and recent plantings now coming into production may push that to exceed 30 million bushels. This year’s good-news crop comes after early-season freezes last year decimated much of the state’s crop in the bud. The 2012 crop was estimated at 17.1 million bushels.

Growers are happy this year, and they are certain retailer and consumers will be too.

“Our retailers saw what was possible last year even with a small crop, prices were strong,” said Allen. “The New York apple industry can’t wait to see what we can do together with them this year.”

To build buyer demand for the 2013 crop, NYAA has been advertising all year long to retailers. Taglines have included “from blossom to awesome” and “live from New York!”

Provided photo – Charley London of Albion is the grand champion of the Western Walk Trot.

Press release, Orleans County 4-H Posted

KNOWLESVILLE – About 200 4-H’ers competed in numerous events showing livestock and other animals at the annual 4-H Fair last week.

Click here to see a list of the champion results.