And, as the article says, who knows when you’ll need to switch to the next variety.
Where does the expense come in for grafting? Isn't the only cost basically the parafilm? I'm not a grafter, but my understanding is that you just take some branches from the varietal you want to clone, cut off the tops off your existing root stock, and then connect the root stock with the twig using some grafting tape.
Unless by capital investment you just mean the fact that you're not going to get more apples for another three years or whatever.
And yes, loss of production is a huge hit to an orchard.
I'm from Minnesota but have lived recently in a neighboring state. There is a very popular orchard near where we live. Part of its appeal has been the variety of apple varieties they had. Too many heirlooms to list, along with modern varieties such as honeycrisp. A few years ago I noticed the new owners (the old one retired because of age) were ripping out many of the heirloom varieties and replacing them with honeycrisp. This had been going on but accelerated. When I talked to them, they basically explained that the other varieties were popular, but honeycrisp brought in much more money and was in very high demand.
I think honeycrisp is a great apple, but there are many many great apple varieties, and I get frustrated by the focus on honeycrisp in particular. There's nothing wrong with supplying what's in demand, but I do have a problem with demand being sooo hyperfocused. People get so obsessed with one variety, and then a little later move on to the next big thing.
People become obsessed with honeycrisp, growers rip out other varieties, breed honeycrisp-tasting new varieties, then people get sick of it because it's all honeycrisp, honeycrisp, honeycrisp. They want something different, and then it all happens over again.
People want what they want, I suppose, but to me it seems pretty fickle and destructive.
It's really sad to grow food and know what it looks like, and then go into a grocery where everything looks like an identical twin. A forked carrot? Must have been mutated by nuclear waste! A strawberry that isn't the size of a Snickers bar? Can't possibly be good!
It's consumer attitudes and opinions that need to change to make this better. It's interesting in America especially where one of the foundational attributes of the culture is "individuality" that the consumers expect the opposite of their produce.
> "Though it succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, along the way it became a nightmare for some producers, forcing small Northeastern growers to compete with their massive, climatically advantaged counterparts on the West Coast."
> Prices for Honeycrisps Can Be 2-3x Other Apples
> "So why do farmers put up with the hassle? They simply don’t have a choice. The demand for this one apple exceeds supply—it’s all consumers, and therefore supermarkets, want. So growers are planting with almost reckless abandon, pulling out old varieties, like the tired Red Delicious, and putting in Honeycrisp trees—even in places where they don’t grow well."
> "Meanwhile, everyone is nervously waiting for the day when the supply-demand equilibrium brings sticker prices down far enough that growing the Honeycrisp no longer makes economic sense. But it’s not likely to happen soon, said Eric Rama, head of agricultural research at MetLife Inc. Even though production is increasing at a rapid pace, demand for premium apples isn’t waning."
Farmers need to grow the things that people want to buy? And it seems like this will be the situation for the foreseeable future, so it's low-risk? And they sell for more?
Really struggling to see how this is a curse... instead of sensational journalism at its very worst...