Good Fruit Grower / Web 2010 / Cornell releases two new apple varieties

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Cornell releases two new apple varieties

Two new apple varieties have been released from the Cornell University breeding program and a group of New York growers will grow and market them exclusively. New York apple industry leaders made the announcement May 6.
The news was long expected. Last fall, a grower group announced formation of NYAG LLC (New York Apple Growers), a “club” that would grow and market the new varieties as managed varieties. Cornell held off on formal release of the varieties—now called NY 1 and NY 2—until negotiations between Cornell and the growers were complete and the varieties were patented.
Cornell Apple Breeder Susan Brown said NY 1 has a Honeycrisp parent, ripens just after Honeycrisp, and is a lot like Honeycrisp but much more grower-friendly. NY 2 also has sweet and juicy flesh but more tartness than Honeycrisp, to which it is not related.
The New York growers group, led by chairman Roger Lamont of Albion, New York, and vice-chairman Jeff Crist of Walden, New York, and a small board of directors, spent last winter seeking grower participation in the group, which has exclusive rights to the varieties. All New York growers—but only New York growers—can grow them. Plantings are not expected to start until 2012.
NYAG surveyed all New York growers last winter, and 170 said they wanted to plant about 1,000 acres, Lamont said.
Full details on the new varieties and the plans to grow and market them will appear in the July issue of Good Fruit Grower.