SnapDragon and RubyFrost make their debut

SnapDragon has a juicy crispiness.

Press release
Cornell University

GENEVA – After years of development and consumer testing as “NY1” and “NY2” Cornell University and New York Apple Growers have given the hottest new apples in the Empire State names worthy of their unique assets:

SnapDragon and RubyFrost.

The names were revealed this afternoon by Jeff Crist, vice chairman of the NYAG board of directors, at the annual Fruit Field Days at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, where Cornell breeder and Horticulture Professor Susan Brown developed the varieties.

“SnapDragon is a great name for this apple because consumers found its crispy texture and sweet flavor so appealing,” said Mark Russell, an apple grower and NYAG member.

Each new apple has its own logo.

SnapDragon, formerly NY1, gets its juicy crispness from its Honeycrisp parent, and it has a spicy-sweet flavor that was a big hit with taste testers. Russell anticipates it will be a popular apple for snacking, especially for children.

Brown said she recognized its promise and fast-tracked it for commercialization.

“I remember my very first bite of SnapDragon. The taste, the crispness and the juiciness impressed us,” Brown said. “Retailers will appreciate its other qualities as well, because although SnapDragon’s harvest window starts relatively early – in late September – its long storage and shelf life means retailers may be able to offer it with consistent quality for a longer time than Honeycrisp.”

RubyFrost, formerly NY2, which ripens later in the fall and stores well, will provide a boost of vitamin C well into winter. Brown expects it will be popular with fans of Empire and Granny Smith.

RubyFrost apples are juicy with a red skin.

“I think juicy and refreshing when I eat a RubyFrost,” Russell said. “It’s a fascinating apple, with a beautiful skin and a nice sugar-acid balance, but to me the crisp juiciness is rewarding every time.”

The two varieties have been a decade in the making, and how they’ve gone to market is a first for the Cornell apple-breeding program and the New York apple industry.

Historically, public universities developed new apple breeds and released them to the industry freely. But in 1980, the Bayh-Dole Act gave universities the ability to retain the intellectual property rights for their research, with limited plant-based royalties.

In May 2010, Cornell forged a partnership for a managed release with NYAG, a new industry group, to establish an exclusive licensing agreement in North America for the two apple varieties. Growers pay royalties on trees purchased, acreage planted and fruit produced, and the income is used to market the new varieties and support Cornell’s apple-breeding program.

The first trees were planted in farmers’ orchards in 2011, and now 400 acres are growing across the state. According to NYAG, the still-young trees will produce a limited crop this year, but intrepid consumers can search out SnapDragon and RubyFrost at select NYAG farm stands across the state. By 2015, the varieties will be vying for space in grocery stores among the Empires, Galas and Honeycrisps.

Greater quality, better storage, and disease and insect resistance have long been the goals of Cornell’s apple breeding program. In addition to SnapDragon and RubyFrost, Cornell has released 66 apple varieties since the late 1890s, including the popular Cortland, Macoun, Empire and Jonagold. Brown herself has brought consumers the highly popular Fortune and Autumncrisp varieties, as well as 11 cherry varieties.

Photos courtesy of Ingrid Lamont – Cornell University and New York Apple Growers LLC today unveiled the names of two new apple varieties in Geneva at Cornell’s Agricultural Experiment Station.

GENEVA – Cornell University and New York Apple Growers LLC have unveiled the names of two new apples that the fruit industry believes will be popular with consumers and profitable for growers.

SnapDragon is a cross between Honeycrisp and NY 752. The new spicy-sweet flavored apple has Honeycrisp’s juiciness and firmness, but doesn’t have that apple’s production problems. Honeycrisp can be vulnerable to seasonal pathogens that cause defects and the apple is tricky to store over winter.

RubyFrost is a cross between Braeburn with Autumn Crisp. That new apple will be 95 percent red.

The new varieties are grown on 930 acres in apple-growing regions throughout the state. When the first mature crop hits the market in 2015 there will be about 930,000 bushels of the two varieties combined.

The trees are still young and aren’t yet producing a full crop. But there will be enough to introduce SnapDragon and RubyFrost to the public through farm markets this year.

The New York Apple Growers are working with Cornell’s apple breeding company to make the new varieties exclusive to NY growers. Cornell will receive royalties from tree and fruit sales, and those funds will support the breeding program, helping to fund a pipeline of more new varieties in the future.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Roger Lamont is pleased with the progress of these Honeycrisp apples and others at his fruit farm on Densmore Road in Albion. Lamont and many other growers had a small crop to pick last year.

Last year Orleans County’s leading crop was decimated by a series of spring freezes that killed blossoms on fruit trees.

There were far fewer apples in the fall. Statewide the apple crop totaled 720 million pounds last year compared to 1.22 billion in 2011. The diminished number meant fewer jobs picking fruit, sorting and packing apples in packing houses, and transporting them on delivery trucks.

This year should be a different story. Farmers say they have been blessed with ample rain and lots of sunshine. They should see a full crop that is high in flavor, said Debbie Breth, a fruit specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Extension. She is based out of the CCE’s office in Knowlesville.

“The quality will definitely be good,” Breth said today. “We’ve had plentiful moisture and the sunshine makes sugar.”

Last year the apple crop was down 41 percent in a $300 million annual industry in New York.

This year’s prolonged cool spring actually has been good for the apple crop, allowing for an extended pollination.

Breth said farmers have had to contend with more pests this year because many farms cut back on the use of sprays last year when they lost their crop. Some of the pests and insects wintered in the orchards and have required more effort to combat this year, she said.

But she is pleased overall with how the trees have rebounded after last year. The crop also is benefitting from a bigger output from many recently planted high-density orchards, she said.

Growers expect a premium price from new varieties

Photos by Tom Rivers – Roger Lamont, an apple grower and leader of NYAG LLC, holds an apple known as NY 2. The name for the new variety will be announced on Thursday in Geneva at the Agricultural Experiment Station.

ALBION – For about a decade, Roger Lamont has referred to them as NY 1’s and NY 2’s. But on Thursday, he will bury those names forever.

Two new varieties that Lamont has helped nurture from near infancy will be named. Each will have its own logo. Cornell University will make the announcement with a group of growers led by Lamont, who has been farming in Albion for a half century.

The announcement will be made in Geneva at the Agriculture Experiment Station. Lamont said the varieties are important to the future of the state’s $300 million apple industry. Orleans County is the state’s second-leading apple producer behind Wayne County.

New York is the second-ranked apple state in the country, trailing Washington, which is by far the dominant apple producer. Washington grows about 130 million bushels of apples a year, compared to 30 million in NY.

Washington’s output has NY growers looking for an edge in the marketplace.

Roger Lamont believes the new varieties, and more to be developed in the future, are critical for New York’s apple industry.

“We worry about being competitive with Washington because they grow five times what we do,” Lamont said. “These new varieties will be unique to New York.”

Lamont has served as chairman of New York Apple Growers LLC, an organization with about 140 members. They all paid for trees of the new varieties, and NYAG has developed a growing and marketing plan to ensure the new apples hit the marketplace in a coordinated way to ensure enough supply for consumers while growers can still make a good profit.

The new varieties are grown on 930 acres in apple-growing regions throughout the state. When the first mature crop hits the market in 2015 there will be about 930,000 bushels of the two varieties combined.

The trees are still young and aren’t yet producing a full crop. But there will be enough to introduce the varieties to the public through farm markets this year.

The New York Apple Growers are working with Cornell’s apple breeding company to make the new varieties exclusive to NY growers. Cornell will receive royalties from tree and fruit sales, and those funds will support the breeding program, helping to fund a pipeline of more new varieties in the future.

New York 1, whose parents are Honeycrisp and a selection called NY 752, has Honeycrisp’s juiciness but will be easier to grow for fruit farmers.

These will be the first “managed varieties” in NY. Cornell used to develop apples, and they were introduced in a haphazard manner. Growers didn’t work together on planning acreage or developing a marketing initiative for the varieties. That often meant new varieties were slow to catch on with the public. If a new apple proved to be a star, growers might then overproduce the variety, driving down the price.

The new varieties offer the prospect of a premium price. Lamont said growers have been looking for successors to the very popular Honeycrisp variety, which continues to command a high price despite a huge increase in production.

Consumers typically pay $50 to $60 a bushel for Honeycrisp, a very profitable price for growers. Many other varieties barely break even. The two new varieties will be priced at Honeycrisp levels.

Lamont believes both new varieties will be popular with consumers for the taste, and they will also be easier to grow than the finicky Honeycrisp.

Lamont has nurtured two apple varieties for about a decade, giving up land in his orchard to test how well they grow.

Both new apples will be red, although NY 1 will be a bi-color apple and not as red as NY 2.

New York II is a cross between Braeburn with Autumn Crisp. The new apple will be 95 percent red.

New York 1 is a cross between Honeycrisp and NY 752. The new spicy-sweet flavored apple has Honeycrisp’s juiciness and firmness, but doesn’t have that apple’s production problems. Honeycrisp can be vulnerable to seasonal pathogens that cause defects and the apple is tricky to store over winter.

New York 2 was developed by crossing Braeburn with Autumn Crisp. It has a sweet and tart flavor.

“It will be a shiny red apple,” Lamont said. “I call it a ruby red.”

He expects they will be a hit with consumers.

“We’re rolling them out as fast as possible,” he said. “If the marketplace demands it, we can always plant more.”