When we think about orchards, and agriculture in general, we usually think of humble farmers working the land to earn their meager salary. And to a point that’s true – farming is hard work with long hours and high risk, especially in the northern climates. However, agricultural practices also require a surprising amount of scientific research and business knowledge to succeed. This leads to research institutions like Cornell Orchards.

At Cornell Orchards, researchers explore the science side of things, with research on different growing techniques, grafting, new apple crosses, and alternative (organic) pesticides and disease control. They even work with other agriculture specialists, like a bee researcher who advocated for allowing wild bees to handle the pollination of the fruit trees. It’s amazing how modern science guides the use of the ancient process of bringing food from the earth.

Possibly even more important, though, is how much business sense goes into growing the apples. For example, researchers are in charge of crossing parent apple breeds to invent new, and oftentimes better, apples, but they don’t just base it on arbitrary ideals of flavor. They have to consider how well an apple will keep over time, where it can successfully be distributed and the preferences of consumers in those areas, where the apple will be grown and whether it can yield enough apples in that climate to make the grower a maximum profit, whether the market is already saturated with a specific flavor of apple, like tart or sweet, etc. Then the researchers have to decide which qualities take preference, since finding an apple that meets all these requirements would be some sort of holy grail apple.

All in all, the apple growing business is strange mish-mash of achieving a maximum profit while discovering new and better apple flavors. It is the nature of the business to make a business out of nature.

Two different varieties of apples – Black Arkansas on the left and Honeycrisp on the right.

The massive cooler room where the Orchard stores their apples throughout the winter.