what does it take to get a new apple variety to market? a lot. … · 2019-11-26 · and a...
TRANSCRIPT
What Does It Take To Get A New Apple Variety To Market? A Lot. And Cosmic Crisp Shows It. . News | OPB
https://www.opb.org/news/article/cosmic-crisp-apple-washington-state-university-market-2019/[11/26/2019 3:47:45 PM]
Now Playing: All Things Considered contribute
News
Land Use | Local | News | Agriculture | Food
What Does It Take To Get A New Apple Variety ToMarket? A Lot. And Cosmic Crisp Shows It.byEnrique Pérez de la Rosa Northwes Public BroadcasingOct. 24, 2019 1:30 p.m.| Updated: Oct. 25, 2019 11:20 a.m.
The player is loading ...
Ask Aaron Clark how the Cosmic Crisp harvest is goingand he’ll answer with cautious optimism.
“This certainly has an opportunity for broad-baseappeal, and everybody’s pretty excited about it. And Iam too,” he said, pausing a bit. “But we’ll see.”
Clark is vice president of Price Cold Storage in Yakimaand a fourth-generation grower. Simply put, Clark is abusinessman. He’s waiting for the apple to hit grocerystores at the end of the year after more than 20 years ofdevelopment.
But like many growers in the state, Price Cold Storagesees a lot of potential in the apple. They’ve plantedabout 80 acres of Cosmic Crisp in their orchards.Compare that to the 2,000 acres of tree fruit theyharvest, and it may not sound like much.
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: become a sponsor
Related Content
Washington Apple Growers Fret Over PossibleChinese Tarifs
Northwes News Network
Download
Faceboo
AddThis
What Does It Take To Get A New Apple Variety To Market? A Lot. And Cosmic Crisp Shows It. . News | OPB
https://www.opb.org/news/article/cosmic-crisp-apple-washington-state-university-market-2019/[11/26/2019 3:47:45 PM]
That’s a lot for a new apple, Clark said, especiallyconsidering it takes upward of $35,000 to buy andplant new trees per acre.
Growers don’t make investments lightly.
“It’s a lot of money!” Clark exclaimed as workers ontractors hauled the harvest away. “The excitement forthe apple is proven by how many people are willing toinvest that kind of money in something that the publichasn’t gotten to eat yet.”
Genetic Parents
Though Cosmic Crisp has been in development for over 20 years,growers are adjusing to growing this apple in their own orchards andtaking extra seps to protect their invesment. Price Cold Storage sprayedtheir apples with clay to prevent sunburn, though vice president AaronClark says it likely wasn’t necessary.
Enrique Pérez de la Rosa/NWPB
Setting The Table For 8,000
OPB
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
become a sponsor
What Does It Take To Get A New Apple Variety To Market? A Lot. And Cosmic Crisp Shows It. . News | OPB
https://www.opb.org/news/article/cosmic-crisp-apple-washington-state-university-market-2019/[11/26/2019 3:47:45 PM]
Cosmic is bred from two distinct apple varieties and it takes the best qualities of both.
It’s sweet like its popular genetic parent, Honeycrisp, but by comparison, it’s not as delicate
to temperaturechanges or harsh sunlight and is less likely to developdisorders like ‘bitter pit,’ a calcium defciency that killscells in the apple’s skin and fesh, which turn intobrown or black spots.
In that sense, Cosmic Crisp takes after its other geneticparent apple, Enterprise, which is hardier but notas sweet.
“I think it’s a beautiful apple,” Clark added. “I think youwalk in the feld and they really look nice. But lookingnice isn’t as important as them eating well. We’re a for-proft deal, man. We’re looking to make some moneyon it, and we think we will.”
So far, Clark is impressed by the high yield produced bythe young three-year-old Cosmic trees. He expects 50bins of more than 800 pounds each per acre. The applewill hit grocery stores this December.
That’s after more than 20 years of development by the
Even after 20 years of development, there’s sillmore research to be done on Cosmic Crisp,particularly around ‘green spot,’ pictured above,a cosmetic defect whose causes are not entirelyundersood by horticulturalis but are likelycaused by a calcium defciency, according toWSU researchers.
Enrique Pérez de la Rosa/NWPB
What Does It Take To Get A New Apple Variety To Market? A Lot. And Cosmic Crisp Shows It. . News | OPB
https://www.opb.org/news/article/cosmic-crisp-apple-washington-state-university-market-2019/[11/26/2019 3:47:45 PM]
Washington State University Tree Fruit ResearchCommission, which has been breeding Cosmic Crispsince 1997. The goal of a new variety is to be attractiveto consumers, easy to grow and easy to store over along period of time.
“It’s the trifecta. Usually, you don’t have that,”according to Ines Hanrahan, executive director of theWSU Tree Fruit Research Commission. “This apple,potentially, has all of it.”
Not A Simple Task
But growing apples is still not a simple task, Hanrahansaid. Growers still have to get over a learning curve asthey get familiar with their new product.
“It’s like any new thing, you have to learn how tohandle it,” Hanrahan said. “It doesn’t mean that youcan just pluck some piece of wood on the ground and itgrows by itself. You still have to manageit horticulturally.”
That’s why the WSU research commission spent weeksahead of harvest teaching growers how Cosmic Crispmatures on the tree.
What Does It Take To Get A New Apple Variety To Market? A Lot. And Cosmic Crisp Shows It. . News | OPB
https://www.opb.org/news/article/cosmic-crisp-apple-washington-state-university-market-2019/[11/26/2019 3:47:45 PM]
If you take a bite out of Cosmic before harvest it tastesand looks like it’s ripe for picking. But Cosmic Crispmatures slowly. That means growers have to rely on aniodine solution spray to see how much starch stored inthe apple through photosynthesis has been convertedinto sugar.
The solution turns sugars dark.
Too much sugar or not enough means the apples mightnot store as well.
But Cosmic Crisp can run into more serious challengesif not managed well from the start, according to WSUresearcher Bernardita Sallato.
The variety is vigorous, meaning it can grow quickly inmost soil types, but it can grow too quickly as well. Ifnot fertilized properly, mismanaged trees can developsomething called ‘blind wood,’ which producesbranches with no buds or spores and no fruit.
Growers watch how Cosmic apples react to an iodine solution used tomeasure the apple’s maturity.
Enrique Pérez de la Rosa/NWPB
What Does It Take To Get A New Apple Variety To Market? A Lot. And Cosmic Crisp Shows It. . News | OPB
https://www.opb.org/news/article/cosmic-crisp-apple-washington-state-university-market-2019/[11/26/2019 3:47:45 PM]
“It does have challenges,” Sallato said. “But thosechallenges, it’s important to be aware of those becausethey can be managed.”
Sallato said most growers have avoided blind woodbecause its cause and remedy are well known. Oldervigorous apples like Granny Smiths and Fujis alsosufer from it.
Green Spot
Other issues are harder to manage because they’re notas well understood by science. Take ‘green spot,’ acosmetic defect that doesn’t change the taste of CosmicCrisp but could make it hard to sell.
Sallato said it’s probably just like the bitter pit inHoneycrisp, caused by a calcium defciency. But she’snot sure yet. She and other WSU researchers arelooking into what factors could be at play.
“Too much nitrogen, too much water, if the rootstock
Price Cold Storage sprayed their apples with clay to prevent sunburn,though vice president Aaron Clark says it likely wasn’t necessary.
Enrique Pérez de la Rosa/NWPB
What Does It Take To Get A New Apple Variety To Market? A Lot. And Cosmic Crisp Shows It. . News | OPB
https://www.opb.org/news/article/cosmic-crisp-apple-washington-state-university-market-2019/[11/26/2019 3:47:45 PM]
has something to do with that. The spray of calcium,”she said, listing potential causes. “There’s many factorsthat will be evaluated.”
From Lab To Orchard
Back at Price Cold Storage, Aaron Clark said he hasn’tseen any of those issues. But experience has taught himchallenges and unknowns are a natural part of takingan apple from the lab to the orchard.
“There’s a big diference between test blocks in placesthat (WSU) would do and commercial farming,” hesaid. “It’s a lot of trial and error. It’s just planting it andseeing where it goes.”
Another unknown is how appealing the apple will be toconsumers in a market with a growing number ofvarieties. Growers are eager to see a good return oninvestment, especially after trade disputes and risinglabor costs have put a strain on their profts.
“But I think they’ll like it,” Clark said. “If I was worriedabout it, I wouldn’t have planted them.”
More News
Expansion Of Cascade-SiskiyouProtections Was Invalid, JudgeRules
Some Parts Of Oregon CouldSee Major Snow, Others MaySee Next To Nothing
What Does It Take To Get A New Apple Variety To Market? A Lot. And Cosmic Crisp Shows It. . News | OPB
https://www.opb.org/news/article/cosmic-crisp-apple-washington-state-university-market-2019/[11/26/2019 3:47:45 PM]
More OPB
Columbia Gorge Pikas AreComing Back After Wildfre,Scientiss Say
Salem City Council TakesControversial Sit-Lie Rule OfThe Table
REBROADCAST: Cash Bail |TriMet Fare Enforcement
Video Premiere: Woolen Men -'Ecsasy Of An Ant'
AboutFAQsEmploymentVolunteeringInternshipsProducing for OPBAccessibilityHire OPBPressroomOPB Public Files
ContactEmail OPBNewsroomConnectFacebookTwitterReception Issues
MobilePodcastsMobile AppsNewslettersRSS Feeds
SupportContributeSponsorshipPhilanthropyPlanned GivingVehicle DonationsVolunteering
LegalPrivacy PolicyTerms of UseFCC Public Files & AccessibilityEditorial PolicyContest RulesSMS T&C
© 2019, Oregon Public Broadcasing