"Survey Says…"
        Gwen Neff

Thanks to everyone who responded to our 1998 Apple Extension Program Evaluation.  We received comments from 34 apple growers throughout the state.  We always welcome your ideas, comments and feedback -- it's how we are able to better respond to the changing needs of the industry. 

The following gives a general snapshot of the apple industry (as represented by those growers responding to our survey).  The average orchard size was 40.5 acres, distributed as shown in the graph below.  Nearly the same number of orchards (8) eliminated orchard acreage, as planted orchard acreage (10).  The average number of acres eliminated was 2. 7 acres, while the average number of new acres planted was 1.5 acres.  On average, 47% of the trees in your orchards are McIntosh (59% of those responding had over half of their acreage planted to McIntosh).

We received very favorable comments about the Apple Newsletter and IPM Alerts.  The majority of you use the horticultural and IPM information presented in the newsletters.  Many of you suggested that we could be more timely in our mailings - and we will strive to do so in 1999.  New this year is a special Newsletter section for beginning orchardists, which will focus on the fundamentals of apple orcharding in Vermont.  Even seasoned growers may find items of interest here over the course of the growing year.

Those of you who received orchard visits in 1998 rated them very highly, especially for the opportunity for individualized attention to specific orchard challenges.  We were able to visit 55 orchards last year, and hope to see those of you whom we missed last year on this year's tour of Vermont orchards.

Only about 40% of those responding were able to attend one of the workshops given by the Apple Team in 1998 ("Cultivar and Rootstock Evaluation", "Thinning", and "Apple Summit").  Attendees rated the workshops as extremely effective in delivering information and stimulating discussions.  75% of you would like to see more workshops in 1999.  Suggested topics included: marketing new varieties and rootstocks, thinning, VT apples, economics, in-depth fertilizing and pruning, tree training, herbiciding, IPM, scouting, and leafminers.  When we hold future workshops we will try to schedule them at a more convenient time of day -- most likely at evening session.

More of you are accessing our websites than in than in the past, a trend that we expect will continue as computer useage rises and as the content on the websites increases and becomes more convenient to access.  Some of the top-rated reasons cited for visiting the websites included: weather and pest information, especially apple scab.  If you're new to the web here's where to find us:

UVM Apple Orchard:        http://orchard.uvm.edu/uvmapple


We received many great suggestions for future research priorities in both horticulture and pest management. Our current areas of focus include: (1) cultivar and rootstock evaluations of horticultural and pest management practices, and (2) cold hardiness research.  For more detailed information on our current research and extension projects you can request from us a copy of the document "1998 - 1999 University Of Vermont Apple Team Projects."

Once again, thanks to everyone for your thought-provoking responses.

Back to front page
On to next page
Return to previous page