Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:This SCRI planning grant broughttogether researchers, extension specialists, and stakeholders, including apple growers andhard cider producers representing all the major cider production regions and production scales in the United States. Our grant developmentmeeting facilitated formal planning among researchers and stakeholders to develop a coordinated research andoutreach program that addresses national and regional stakeholder needs throughout the cider supply chain. Additionally, for the past three years CIDER PIs have attended CiderCON to present findings from their research programs and to survey cider apple growers and cider producers (the primary audience group for this project) about their research and extension needs. These surveys have been conducted during the opening Plenary Session with the use of TurningPoint (Turning Technologies, Youngstown, OH), a PowerPoint-based, real-time survey instrument. Averaged over the three years, we found that 88% of respondents indicated they need more research into cider production by university scientists, 89% were willing to participate in research experiments in their orchard or cidery, and 55% were willing to fund research that targeted their needs. Respondents felt the research that would most benefit their business included fermentation issues (18%), final product quality evaluation (14%), storage and packaging techniques and management (13%), cultivar and rootstock trials (13%), cider orchard management (11%), juice quality improvement (11%), and economic feasibility and consumer preference (8%). CIDER PIs have also assessed research and extension needs at the regional and state level, including surveys conducted in VA (2012), VT (2014), and WA (2014). Collectively, our findings show that the needs of this nascent industry are diverse, and require research and outreach projects from an interdisciplinary team of scientists and extension specialists. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?PIs Peck, Miles, Rothwell, Stewart, and Bradshaw attended CiderCON in Chicago 5-6 Feb 2015 and presented results from preliminary studies, and conferred with stakeholders about research methods and goals. PI Tozer organized the Cider Symposium as part of the Beeronomics Conference in Seattle, WA 9 Sept 2015. Three CIDER Stakeholder Advisors gave their perspectives on the current state and future outlook of the U.S. cider industry at a plenary session, and CIDER team members presented key results of their projects in an organized session at the symposium. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?At the national level, our primary communities of interest (apple growers and cider makers) were informed about our plans to submit a full Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant at CiderCON 2015 (Chicago, IL, 5-6 Feb 2015). At this conference, stakeholders were encouraged to discuss the grant proposal with PIs. Several stakeholders who had not attended the grant development meeting provided additional feedback on the proposed objectives. PIs also solicited support from the CiderCON participants, which yielded many of the letters of support that we included with our FY2015 SCRI CAP submission. Information about this SCRI planning grant was further disseminated to communities of interest, as follows: PI Bradshaw. Research & Outreach Programs to Support Apple Production for Hard Cider in Vermont. UVM CALS Board of Advisors. 31 Oct 2014. PI Bradshaw. Research & Outreach Programs to Support Apple Production for Hard Cider in Vermont. Vermont Hard Cider Company. 16 Nov 2014. PI Peck, Introduction to Hard Cider Production, Penn State Extension, Biglerville, PA. 13 Jan 2015. PI Miles. Cider varieties, juice quality, costs or orchard establishment, and mechanization. Cider workshop, Santa Rosa, CA. 7 Feb 2015. PI Bradshaw, Research & Outreach Programs to Support Apple Production for Hard Cider in Vermont. Poster presentation, Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station and UVM Extension Legislative Event. 11 Feb 2015. PI Miles. Cider apple varieties and juice quality. San Juan Islands Agricultural Summit, Lopez Island, WA. 12 Feb 2015. PI Miles. National cider research initiative. State of Cider Summit, Everett, WA. 22 Feb 2015. PI Bradshaw, Cider Apple Research at UVM & Other Land Grant Universities. Oral presentation, Cider Apple Production in Vermont: Market Opportunities and Technical Challenges. 30 March 2015. PI Bradshaw, UVM Research: Supporting Vermont Apple Growers and Cider Producers. Across the Fence Television Segment, WCAX TV, Burlington, VT. 24 April 2015. PI Bradshaw, UVM Research: Supporting Vermont Apple and Grape Growers in Vermont. UVM Continuing & Distance Education Staff. Burlington, VT. 16 July 2015. PI Peck provided an update on the SCRI grant submission to the Board of the United States Association of Cider Makers at their annual Board Meeting in Washington DC. July 21 2015 PI Miles. Yield, labor, and fruit and juice quality characteristics of machine and hand-harvested 'Brown Snout' specialty cider apple. Cider Symposium, Beeronomics Conference, Seattle, WA. 9 Sept 2015. PI Peck, Virginia Association of Cider Makers Annual Board Meeting, Corcoran Cidery, Waterford, VA. 14 Sept 2015. PI Miles. Research Goals and Objectives for SCRI CAPs proposal. Northwest Cider Association meeting, Seattle, WA, 15 Sept 2015. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our project team held aplanning grant meeting on 23-25 October 2014 at the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington, VA. In addition to the original CIDER PIs, Dr. Olga Padilla-Zakour, Professor of Food Science at Cornell University attended the meeting. Stakeholders attending the meeting included, Barney Hodges, Owner, Sunrise Orchards (VT); James Kohn, Owner, Wandering Aengus Ciderworks, Chair of CiderCON, and founding member of the U.S. Association of Cider Makers (USACM) (OR); Dan Rowell, VP and CFO, Vermont Hard Cider Company (producer of Woodchuck ciders) and USACM Treasurer (VT); Chuck Shelton, Owner, Albemarle CiderWorks and Vintage Virginia Apples (VA); Craig Campbell, Owner, Tieton CiderWorks and Harmony Orchards (WA); David Bauermeister, Director, Northwest Agriculture Business Center (WA); Mark Seetin, Director, USApple (VA); Wanda Gale, President, International Plant Management, Inc. (MI); Jocelyn Kuzelka, Owner, Panacea Wine Consulting (VA); and Ian Merwin, Ph.D., Owner, Black Diamond Farm and Cidery (NY). Stakeholders formed integrated working groups with scientists and extension specialists to prioritize industry needs, defined research objectives and methods, and identified the most useful outreach activities. They specifically identified the following key barriers in the cider supply chain: (A) supply of cider apple trees from U.S. nurseries, (B) supply of high quality cider apples, with cultivars specifically containing high levels of tannins and acidity, (C) knowledge on the suitability of cider apple cultivars in different growing regions, (D) best management practices for growing cider apples, (E) access to risk management tools to avoid or minimize costly mistakes for apple growers and cider producers, and (F) information on consumer preference and the future growth of a rapidly expanding industry. As an additional output from our grant development meeting, we surveyed the PIs and stakeholders during the meeting and developed an extension report on the 20 most commonly grown cider cultivars in the U.S. The CIDER project team used information gathered at this planning grant meeting todevelopand submita USDA-NIFA Specialty Crop Research Inititive-Coordinated Agricultural Project (SCRI-CAP) grant in FY2015. Unfortunately, the proposal was not funded in FY2015, but the project team isresubmitting a revised proposal for FY2016.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Peck, G. and C. Miles. 2015. Assessing the Production Scale and Research and Extension Needs of U.S. Hard Cider Producers. Journal of Extension. 53(5): Article 5FEA10. Available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2015october/a10.php.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Becot, F., T. Bradshaw, and D. Conner. 2016. Apple market optimization and expansion through value-added hard cider production. HortTechnology. Submitted September 2015.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Miles, C., J. King, and G. Peck. 2015. Commonly Grown Cider Apple Cultivars In the U.S. Washington State University Cider Report #202. Mt. Vernon, WA.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Ferreira, G., R. Matthew, G. Groover, and G. Peck. 2015. The Mid Atlantic and New England Hard Cider Industries: A Market Overview. Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication (Submitted).
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Galinato, S.P., P.R. Tozer, and C.A. Miles. 2015. Scale of cider apple and hard cider production in Washington State. IMPACT Bulletin. School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Galinato, S.P., P.R. Tozer, and C.A. Miles. 2015. Assessment of the Cider Market in Washington State: A Pilot Study. Presentation, Beeronomics Cider Symposium, Seattle, WA, 9 September 2015.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Galinato, S.P., P.R. Tozer, C.A. Miles, and G. Coffey. 2015. Assessment of the Cider Industry in Washington State: Cider Apple Production and Cider Making. Poster presentation, Washington Tree Fruit Association Annual Meeting, Yakima, WA, 8 December 2015.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Conner, D., F. Becot, and T. Bradshaw. Can Cideries Source from Local Orchards? Presented to Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco CA, July 27, 2015.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Becot, F., T. Bradshaw, and D. Conner. 2015. Apple Market Optimization and Expansion through Value-Added Hard Cider Production in Vermont. Presented to the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh PA, June 26, 2015.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Becot, F., T. Bradshaw, and D. Conner. 2015. Apple Market Optimization and Expansion through Value-Added Hard Cider Production in Vermont. Presented at Beereconomics. Seattle, WA. September 8-9, 2014.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Miles, C., J. King, A. Zimmerman, and E. Scheenstra. 2015. Recent Advances in Cider Research: Characteristics of Northwest Washington Cider Apple Juice and Varietal Ciders. In Cider Handbook 2015-16, Scott Laboratories, Inc., Petaluma, CA 94955/Scott Laboratories, Ltd., Pickering, Ontario L1W2A1, p. 16.
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