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Page 3The Country TodayWed., Aug. 31, 1977Yields below normalApple harvest earliest in yearsWhen west central Wisconsin apple growers look back on 1977 they’ll most likely remember it as the year they hauled their ladders and crates into the orchards at an almost unbelievably early date.August has not yet ended and already many varieties of apples have been harvested. While yields have been somewhat disappointing, growers are now more optimistic than they were earlier this year.“It’s a miracle we have the crop that we do,” said Robert Sacia, president of Sacia Orchards, Inc., Rt. 1, Galesville. “With the hard winter and the drought we didn’t think we had a chance in 1,000 of getting a good crop.”Wisconsin ApplesVarietyVikingMelbaWealthyCharacteristics UsesMedium size, redLarge, crimson striped over yellow.Medium size, red striped over greenish yellow background.Medium to large, redMildly tart, Raw firm. Keeps well Sauce for an early Dessertapple.Mildly tart, Raw pleasant aroma Sauce Bruises easily. DessertFlesh white, tender, crisp.Tender, juicy. All-aromatic flesh— purpose white, good keeper.The Sacia family orchard in southern Trempealeau County covers approximately 150 acres. Mr. Sacia said the orchard grows more Red Delicious apples than any other orchard in Wisconsin. Mr. Sacia’s father planted the first apple trees in the orchard in 1907.The apple grower described this year’s fruit as “average sized,” but said that trees are yielding only about 60-65 per cent of an average year.“Last year’s drought affected some of the late varieties which ran out of moisture, resulting in a smaller sized fruit,” said Mr. Sacia, recalling the effect of dry conditions on last year’s crop. “But the biggest damage caused by the drought was on the fruit buds for this year. The trees that were ‘overloaded’ did not come back.”Mr. Sacia said his orchard suffered no major frost damage this spring, a fact he said is almost unbelievable considering the early start of the growing season.“The season is almost three weeks ahead of normal — earlier than it has ever been here before,” he said.Mr. Sacia said area apple growers have gained a market advantage this year because of the early growing season. Although other apple orchards throughout the United States are also experiencing an early season, they are not as advanced as those in west central Wisconsin.Still a main concern of orchard owners, however, is the lack of adequate moisture. Mr. Sacia said soil samples he has taken show improvement has been minimal.“Once you get down a few inches it’s dry and hard as can be,” he said. “So far we’ve been getting by with occasional rains, but the moisture in the subsoil is not there.”Resembles McIntosh with lighter red skin colorNorthwestern Large, smoothGreening skinned, yellowor greenish colorFiner white Allflesh than purposeMcIntosh.Flesh discolors more slowly when exposed to air.Flesh, yellow- Veryish firm, juicy good for slight aroma, cooking orgood keeper. bakingSolid deep red-small to mediumRed Delicious Medium to large, red striped, five knobs on blossom end.Flesh, firm and crisp. Sweet tart flavor.Yellow flesh, Highsweet, firm, qualityfragrant. dessertOver in western Dunn County, Tom Connell of Connell’s Sunridge Orchards reports the season is running at least two weeks ahead of normal. Workers are well into the picking of the McIntosh variety this week.Mr. Connell said some varieties are doing better than others, but that “on an average our yield per acre is down from normal.” According to Mr. Connell, apple growers in Wisconsin average about 300 bushels per acre, although this figure can vary widely depending on the variety of apple and geographic location.The Connell orchard consists of approximately 13,000 trees spread over 170 acres. Tom Connell represents the fifth generation of his family to grow apples. His father purchased their present orchard in 1939 after growing apples in the Chippewa Falls area.Despite their background in growing apples, the Connell family has seen few years that duplicate growing conditions in 1976-77.“We’ve had some real extremes in temperature,” Tom Connellsaid. “First we had the worst drought in 40 years, then the coldest winter in 100 years and then the warmest May in 60 years.“It’s been a very early season, in fact, I’ve never seen a season this early.“Recent cool weather has been tremendous for coloring of apples. Even though it has been cool, it has been sunny. Although we haven’t had a lot of rain there has been adequate moisture — not like last year when it was so dry apples were dropping all season long.”John J. Mcllquham said apple picking began the first week of August at his family’s 80-acre orchard in Chippewa County.Mr. Mcllquham’s assessment of the 1977 growing season followed closely reports from the Sacia and Connell orchards.“I’ve never seen a harvest as early as this,” Mr. Mcllquham said. “We haven’t got the amount of apples we would like to have, but this year we have the market.”Mr. Mcllquham estimated the season is running about three weeks ahead of normal. He said yields have been excellent from some trees, but noted drought and frost have hurt scattered trees.Red and juicyJohn J. Mcllquham, left, and his father, John D. Mcllquham, hold a crate of apples picked in their Chippewa County orchard.Some older trees were killed by drought at the Mcllquham orchard. Mr. Mcllquham said he will replant the trees, but that they will not become commercially productive again for 20-25 years.Scattered frost during the blossom stage also contributed to lower yields, especially among varieties that blossom early.Low temperatures are still a concern to apple growers at this time of year, but Mr. Mcllquham noted there is a difference between a “nipping” frost and a “killing” frost.‘‘Temperatures around 30 degrees for a short time wouldn't hurt us, but when it gets down to 18 degrees and holds for six hours you’re all done,” Mr. Mcllquham said.The orchard owner said an apple that remains on the tree and is not disturbed has the ability to thaw itself out if temperatures do not dip too far below freezing.When is an apple grower ready for frost? Mr. Mcllquham chuckled and said “the last of October or the first week of November wouldn’t be a bad time.”Although frost will most likely arrive well before then, area apple growers should be able to gain at least some benefit from their 1977 labor.A report issued last week by the Wisconsin Statistical Reporting Service estimated the state’s 1977 apple crop at 48 million pounds. This is 4 million pounds less than the 1976 crop and 31 per cent less than the ten-year average.McIntosh, Wisconsin’s leading variety, is forecast at 17 million pounds; Delicious and Cortland should account for 9 and 7 million pounds respectively. These three varieties comprise 69 per cent of Wisconsin’s apple production.The 1977 output of apples in the United States is forecast at 6.9 billion pounds. This is 8 per cent greater than last year’s freeze-damaged crop, but falls short of the record 1975 total by 8 per cent.Red Delicious retained its position as the nation’s leading apple variety, accounting for 36 per cent of the total.As usual, the state of Washington topped all apple producing states with a forecast of 2.3 billion pounds. New York state is a distant second with 900 million pounds.
Newspaper Details
Country Today
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US
Wed, Aug 31, 1977
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Bernard W.
USA 18 Jan 2025
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