Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/67288
New Varieties for this fall A planned DS 22 new apple will debut in September (weather permitting), one that the breeder and marketer hope will become a signature apple of the upper Mississippi River Valley growing region. The marketer is Fred Wescott, Elgin, Minnesota, owner of Wescott Orchards and Wescott Agri-Products, who packs and distributes apples to retailers in the upper Midwest and is a champion of apples bred for and grown in his unique area. He markets apples for several growers. For many years, Wescott's business has thrived by New apple from private breeder will be managed as a club variety. by Richard Lehnert selling the exceptional varieties developed by the Univer- sity of Minnesota—the latest ones being Honeycrisp, SweeTango, and Zestar! These have become national varieties, but the university has turned out many others, like Regent and Haralson, that became regional favorites. The breeder of this new apple is not the University of Minnesota but a private grower named Doug Shefelbine, Holmen, Wisconsin (see "DS 22 to debut"). The new apple has been named, but the name is being kept secret until the trademarking process is complete. The cultivar name is DS 22, and the patent on that is pending. The exact genetics on this apple have not been determined. Shefel- bine's breeding program consists of recovering apple seeds from pomace from his cider mill, planting them out, and watching to see what happens. He's been doing that for more than 20 years. Patents Possible parents include the apples in his orchard— Regent, Honeycrisp, Cortland, Haralson, and others— matched with any pollen any bee might want to carry into or around in the orchard. Shefelbine sold exclusive rights to the apple to Wescott, F SUBSTITUTE for SweeTango red Wescott wanted to grow and market the apple that was later named SweeTango. He had antici- pated that it would be an open release variety, as all University of Minnesota- bred apples had been up until then. When the university decided to release it in 2005 as a managed variety under an exclusive licensing agreement, Wescott bid to obtain exclusive rights to it. When MN 1914 (SweeTango) went instead to Pepin Heights Orchard, Wescott joined with others in a lawsuit contending that a land-grant univer- sity should not have released the vari- ety in a way that restricted or excluded many growers in the state from having access to it. After that lawsuit was settled in who plans to commercialize it as a managed variety. "There are a number of varieties we're looking at the potential of," Wescott said in a phone interview with Good Fruit Grower. Shefelbine has some of them. Members of the managed variety club will be the growers Wescott has worked with for many years packing and selling his and their apples. The idea is to test the variety in the market and let demand determine how many are needed and how widely they can be distributed, he said. favor of the university and Pepin Heights, Wescott turned in another direction—to apples being selected by Doug Shefelbine, who had a similar goal in mind. He wanted to find a Honeycrisp-like apple that was earlier, more flavorful, and much more grower-friendly. —R. Lehnert Unique region Wescott is convinced the apples grown along the Mis- sissippi River bluffs in southwest Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota, and northeast Iowa are very desirable. "Our region, we feel, can produce a very high quality piece of fruit," he said. "We have unique soils and weather. The trees receive all natural rainfall. And while our cold climate can be a drawback for production, it lends itself to producing a high-eating-quality apple." The area has good sites for air drainage. Located almost due west of Fruit Ridge in Michigan, it is on the cold side of Lake Michigan and does not have the protec- tive "lake effect" advantage. "We're a small region in a land of giants," Wescott said, "but we grow some very healthy niche varieties." Over the years, he has worked to create an identity for the apples of this region under the banner of the Mississippi Valley Fruit Co. The region also has had "historically unique varieties" available, bred for the climate. In his view, Honeycrisp would never have become a national brand had not the growers of the region proven its value. "We're marketing the new apple as regionally specific," he said, "but if the marketplace wants it bigger, we have the capacity to grow enough fruit to satisfy demand on a national level," he said. The new apple The new apple, he said, "ripens before Honeycrisp and is a significant improvement to varieties that have histor- ically been available in that time frame. We will sell it as a 'window variety' in the time period from September 1 to October 15, but it will store much longer than that." Wescott described it as orange-red with some striping on a yellow back- ground, having "a different appearance and shape." It is crisp, he said, and the flavor is "pleasant and snappy." It is as high in sugar as Honeycrisp, but with more acidity so it "has a little more zing." 24 JUNE 2012 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com photos Courtesy of Doug shefelbine