{"id":38605,"date":"2025-10-21T15:41:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=38605"},"modified":"2025-10-21T15:41:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:41:16","slug":"new-yorks-two-apple-season-delivers-exceptional-flavor-and-strong-yields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/10\/new-yorks-two-apple-season-delivers-exceptional-flavor-and-strong-yields\/","title":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s \u2018Two-Apple Season\u2019 Delivers Exceptional Flavor And Strong Yields"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Rows of ripening apples at a New York orchard reflect what growers call a \u201ctwo-apple season,\u201d marked by exceptional color, flavor, and strong yields across the state.
Courtesy NY Apple Association<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Paul Post<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Industry leaders call it a two apple season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe color and flavor this year are phenomenal, where if you have one apple it\u2019s so good you immediately reach for another one,\u201d said Cynthia Haskins, New York Apple Association president. \u201cIf you haven\u2019t tried a new crop apple yet, go out and buy some. They really are good.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York is the nation\u2019s second-leading apple producer, surpassed only by Washington state; a $2.1 billion industry that supports nearly 12,000 jobs, a Cornell study says.<\/p>\n

The impact is especially important to rural small towns and hamlets where farms are located, as there are 150 you-pick destinations that draw huge crowds on autumn weekends. Visitors quite often patronize other small business, too, such as retail shops and convenience stores during fun family outings.<\/p>\n

A recent Warrensburg Apple Festival gave a variety of local vendors a chance to market their products in this Adirondack town.<\/p>\n

In Argyle, Washington County, McWhorter\u2019s Orchard owner Mel McWhorter said, \u201cWe\u2019re very, very busy. We\u2019ve got a lot of activity. Traffic through the building here is very good. Ninety percent of our business is from Warren and Washington counties, but I always look at the address when people pay with checks. We get customers from Crown Point to the Schoharie Valley and some from Poultney, Vt.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/b>Bowman Orchards in Rexford, southern Saratoga County, is a full-fledged agritourism destination featuring a \u201cStalked: Haunted Corn Maze\u201d and extensive children\u2019s play area with rides.<\/p>\n

Its popular Farm Store has a wide variety of goods from donuts, kettle corn and candy to fresh produce, baking mixes and country-themed ornaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s open till Christmas, then we take a short break and are back up in mid- to late-January,\u201d owner Kevin Bowman said. \u201cThere\u2019s a big push on the hard cider side this year. People seem to really be enjoying that.\u201d<\/p>\n

This fall\u2019s statewide harvest is expected to total about 30.5 million bushels, similar to last year. The apple industry has a direct economic impact through farming and indirectly through processing, packaging, storage and the growing craft cider sector.<\/p>\n

In July, the state awarded the Apple Association $1.5 million for two promotional initiatives. The first focuses on consumer marketing through social media, digital advertising and media outlets. A second program supports in-store promotions, merchandising, cooperative advertising and retailer engagement to drive increased sales and visibility of New York apples.<\/p>\n

One of the entire agriculture industry\u2019s major concerns, not just apple producers, is the impact of Trump administration immigration enforcement. All kinds of farms rely heavily on foreign workers to handle tough, physically-demanding jobs that many Americans refuse to do.<\/p>\n

Increased enforcement may cause labor shortages, resulting in higher labor costs, crop losses and increased food prices for consumers. Supply chains are also disrupted and farm profitability is threatened.<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s a long-term push for automation, it cannot fully replace the current labor force.<\/p>\n

Bowman said he might eventually use robotic apple picking machines to harvest some of his orchard. \u201cWe\u2019re headed in that direction,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not ready yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

For robotics to work, farms have to replace older tall trees with shorter, high-yielding trellis-type trees.<\/p>\n

But Clifton Park, where Bowman\u2019s is located, is so heavily developed that there\u2019s very little available land to expand and plant more trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we need to grow a little bit taller trees,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cThis year our workers are picking the tops of trees with platforms. Our you-pick customers don\u2019t need ladders. It\u2019s easier for them. They just pick the lower branches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowman\u2019s has six workers under the H-2A program, a temporary visa program that allows farms to fill seasonal jobs with foreign help if there aren\u2019t enough domestic workers available.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have zero concerns with ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) because we do it the legal way,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cI don\u2019t understand why other people don\u2019t. If everybody did it the legal way there wouldn\u2019t be any concerns. It costs a lot of money. That\u2019s why some people don\u2019t do that. But some things are more important than just the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a friend who\u2019s an ICE agent,\u201d he said. \u201cWe ask him how they know which farms to go to. He said, if they don\u2019t have legal workers, that\u2019s where they go. It\u2019s all on the computer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haskins, the Apple Association president, said she hasn\u2019t heard of any cases in New York where immigrant apple pickers have been late arriving for this year\u2019s harvest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean that it hasn\u2019t happened,\u201d she said. \u201cI just haven\u2019t been notified.\u201d<\/p>\n

But some immigrant workers, both undocumented and legally authorized, are now hesitant to work and stay home following news of raids, which has shrunk the pool of available and reliable labor.<\/p>\n

In June, ICE raids on farms in California and Pennsylvania led to significant crop losses as workers stopped showing up for work.<\/p>\n

Bowman said other types of government intervention are more of a concern to his operation. \u201cThe biggest thing is increased regulations from every angle,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is probably more of challenge than the weather.<\/p>\n

Several years ago, the state enacted new overtime pay requirements for farmworkers. But if farms can\u2019t afford to pay such higher wages, laborers don\u2019t work as long and earn as much as they used to.<\/p>\n

Much of this year\u2019s crop has already been harvested, but later apple varieties such as Melrose, Jonagold, Northern Spy, Red Delicious, Ida Red and Spy Gold are still available. \u201cEverybody seems to have their preference and navigate to their favorite apple, for either eating or cooking,\u201d MacWhorter said. \u201cWe stay open till the crop is gone and we don\u2019t have any problem getting rid of them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paul Post \u00a0Industry leaders call it a two apple season. \u201cThe color and flavor this year are phenomenal, where if you have one apple it\u2019s so good you immediately reach for another one,\u201d said Cynthia Haskins, New York Apple Association president. \u201cIf you haven\u2019t tried a new crop apple yet, go out and buy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":38606,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"\r\nNew York\u2019s \u2018Two-Apple Season\u2019 Delivers Exceptional Flavor And Strong Yields - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/10\/new-yorks-two-apple-season-delivers-exceptional-flavor-and-strong-yields\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New York\u2019s \u2018Two-Apple Season\u2019 Delivers Exceptional Flavor And Strong Yields - 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