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Naches, Wa | The Washington perspective...
Trees come from nurseries and tend to be contract grown. Because of the problem of getting rootstock, orders are placed two to three years ahead.
In our operation, we really don't like trees. They are pretty expensive; probably around $9.00 each. We like to do what are called sleeping eyes, where there is a dormant scion bud on a rootstock. They are probably half the cost, and at 2178 trees per acre it adds up. However, they are really tough to come by, so we have taken to growing our own nursery. We will line out the roots in the next week or so and then in August bud them to (most likely) Honeycrisp.
As to removal, we yank them out when they aren't economic any longer. That happens because:
1. Market shifts away from a variety. Red Delicious has seen this the last twenty years and will continue to decline. There is a new variety that is coming that should finally put the nail in the coffin.
2. Yield doesn't keep up. Washington state average yield a decade ago was probably 40 bins/ac (450-500bu). We now target more like 100 bins/ac for new plantings.
3. The block isn't labor efficient. Washington likes to lead the nation is minimum wage. It is now $11/hr. We just passed a new one to take it to $13.50 in the next few years. The smart money is on another referendum in 2020 to take it well past $15. However, our wages are quite a bit above minimum. Since there is a farm worker shortage, a lot participate in the H2a program, which puts the minimum at $13.37, so wages are north of that. Grat big old trees cost more to work in than small trees. So even if a block has decent production, if labor costs are high, it is a candidate for renewal.
How, we get rid of them depends. There is a lot of push, pile and burn. In Yakima county however, that can be difficult because of regulation of air quality, so there is a fair amount that gets put into tub grinders.
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Planting apple trees (video)
