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a large acreage of young trees just coming into production, his average yield may be 

 considerably less than a grower who is dealing only with mature trees. This may also 

 increase both his growing and harvesting cost per bushel in the short run. However , 

 if a grower is going to maintain a productive orchard over the long run, it is desirable 

 and even necessary that he constantly plant young trees. If a new planting is expected 

 to have a useful life of from 20-25 years, then approximately 4-5% of the total acreage 

 should be replanted each year. Replanting about the same number of acres each year 

 is desirable from several standpoints: 



1. It insures that the productive base of the farm is constantly being renewed. 



2. It makes it much easier to provide the labor and equipment needed for the operation 

 as compared to planting larger acreages on an irregular basis. 



3. The cash flow needs of business are more constant. It costs from $6,000-$10,000 

 per acre to plant and care for a young orchard until it begins to pay its own way. 

 When replanting is done on a regular basis this cash flow drain is also more constant 

 and more easily planned for. 



This year, data was again collected to show the age breakdown of the trees on 

 each operation. This is summarized in Table 1. It illustrates the importance that these 

 growers have placed on establishing new orchards in recent years. However, it also 

 illustrates that orchard replanting has been a very sporadic activity on several of the 

 operations in the study, rather than a regular activity. Many of these operators have 

 now recognized the need to plant approximately the same number of acres of young 

 orchards each year. 



This year we collected information on the number of acres pruned, average number 

 of sprays per acre, number of acres receiving herbicides, average number of times 

 each grower mowed his orchard and information on irrigation practices. This data 

 is summarized in Table 1 also. Hopefully, it will provide growers with a better 

 understanding of how their cost might compare to the figures contained within this 

 publication. 



Summer pruning includes all pruning activities done in the bearing orchards during 

 the time from petal fall to harvest, including suckering. The number of sprays per 

 acre include the average of all the sprays to an orchard for insect and disease control, 

 growth regulations, thinning, and foliar fertilizers. The number of bearing acres 

 receiving herbicides include those acres that received some type of herbicide treatment. 

 Some of these may have been treated more than once. 



All the costs associated with the production of the apple crop on acres of apples 

 considered to be bearing acres are included in Table 2. In some cases, it was easy 

 to identify those expenses associated with the growing phase of the operation, for 

 others it was necessary to estimate what percent of the total expenditure was associated 

 with growing the crop. An example of the latter is the management salary. On none 

 of these operations was one person in charge of only growing the apples. Therefore, 

 it was necessary to estimate what portion of the manager's salary should be charged 

 to the growing phase of the operation. Also, it was necessary to separate the costs 

 of caring for the young non-bearing acres and the costs associated with the bearing 

 acres. 



