The vast majority of apples used for cider in New England are commonly-grown dessert cultivars, e.g. ‘McIntosh’, ‘’Cortland’, etc. Common dessert cultivars have become repurposed as cider apples because they are the most-planted and therefore most-produced apple cultivars in the region. Additionally, packing lines that sort fruit to meet the standards of the USDA grading system efficiently separate high-value fruit from lower-value cider apples. This is a critical consideration when growing dessert cultivars that will be used for cider making because differences in prices paid for fresh vs. cider apples will determine overall orchard profitability. Cider apple prices received by growers vary by region and buyer and, although they are generally higher than they were prior to the expansion of the cider market, they are still 3-6 times lower than fresh fruit prices paid for the same cultivars when sorted and packed to market standards. To maximize the prices received for dual purpose cultivars growers should produce as high a proportion of their fruit for higher-value fresh markets as possible and sell the smaller proportion of utility-grade apples to cideries.  Alternatively, growers could enter into contracts with cideries to guarantee profitable prices for cider apples if sold exclusively for processing.

Cideries may seek heirloom or other specific apple cultivars that contribute flavors, aromas, mouthfeel, and other characteristics to finished ciders. These cider specific apple cultivars may be inherently more valuable to cideries than off-grade dessert cultivars and thus growers may receive high enough prices to justify growing them specifically for that market. Decisions to plant or manage these fruit should be made in collaboration with potential buyers, as there may be great risk in producing a cultivar that is not marketable when an orchard comes to maturity.

Cultivars specifically for use in cider making may fall into two classes: dual-purpose cultivars and cider-only cultivars. Dual-purpose cultivars include apples with characteristics that make them useful for both fresh and cider markets. Many traditional heirloom cultivars, e.g., ‘Northern Spy’, ‘Golden Russet’, and ‘Esopus Spitzenburg’, may fall into this category. In addition, some newer, highly-flavored cultivars like ‘Liberty’, ‘Goldrush’ and ‘Crimson Crisp’ could be grown for both fresh and cider markets, but it is critical to assess the local markets, both for fresh and for cider fruit, prior to planting or topgrafting these cultivars. For some niche cultivars, local fresh fruit markets may be easily saturated. At the same time, these cultivars may not receive the same prices that cider-only cultivars may command from cideries.

Specific, cider-only cultivars possess especially unique flavor and juice chemistry attributes that may make them especially valuable for cider making, but which taste objectionable as fresh fruit. Therefore, those cultivars must sell for comparable prices to fresh dessert fruit cultivars in order to justify their production. Generally, these cultivars fall into two classes. First are the European-origin bittersweet and bittersharp cultivars that are commonly grown in England, France, and, increasingly, in developing cider regions around the world. Such cultivars include ‘Dabinett’, ‘Yarlington Mill’, ‘Kingston Black’, and numerous others. At this time, the adaptability of European cider apple cultivars to New England is not entirely known, and many of the cultivars have unique production challenges, including biennial bearing tendencies, difficulty in training to modern orchard systems, and high susceptibility to sunburn, fruit rots, and fire blight. Second are the less common but likely under-explored North American cider apple cultivars, such as ‘Hewes Crab’, ‘Harrison’, and ‘Franklin Cider Apple’.

Planting and production of cider-specific cultivars has the potential to significantly increase new markets for apple producers in New England. Caution is advised when establishing such orchards, because of the sometimes still-unknown production challenges and limited marketability of fruit outside of cider markets. Growers of cider-specific cultivars are dependent on an independent cider industry or must themselves establish a cidery which can bring its own production, management, capital, and marketing challenges. A grower interested in cider apple production should carefully consider all production and marketing aspects and should explore developing long-term contracts or other business arrangements with buyers of cider fruit to minimize financial risk.

Orchard management may need to be adjusted when growing cider fruit as compared to fresh market apples. Changes in management may be based upon desires to affect fruit/juice quality; to reduce production costs to meet lower price points for cider apples; or to reduce orchard inputs for environmental or labor management reasons. It is important to provide cider apples with a basic level of management in order to maintain acceptable fruit production; reduce disease inoculum and insect pest populations; and maintain worker access into the orchard. Furthermore, if an orchard is managed to provide fruit to both fresh and cider markets, it nearly always makes sense to manage your crop so that the maximum proportion of fruit goes to the highest-valued market. The recent increase in cider/sweet cider apple prices paid for dessert cultivars does not generally justify substantial reductions in inputs or management when growing them.

There is substantial debate about the best planting and training system for producing cider apples. Modern, high-density orchard systems, e.g., tall spindle, are being increasingly adopted for fresh market dessert cultivars because of their precocity, crop yield, and fruit quality potential. However, tall spindle systems are substantially more expensive to establish than lower-density, freestanding central leader systems, and their high installation and early management costs are typically recouped through early, high-yield harvests of high-value fruit. For cider-specific cultivars, lower potential fruit price, biennial bearing tendency, and reduced need for fruit-sun exposure may make those advantages less significant. There is also substantial discussion around best harvest methods, including mechanical and/or ground harvesting of cider fruit that may lend themselves to certain training systems. Research needs to be conducted on the best training systems for cider-specific cultivars, especially the European bittersweet and bittersharp cultivars, to assess potential juice quality effects, and the economics of New England cider production before widespread recommendations may be made. Growers are urged to carefully consider potential costs, returns, and markets when choosing a tree planting and training system for cider apple production.

Cider apple trees in freestanding central leader systems may be pruned somewhat less than trees grown for dessert fruit, but it is important to maintain sufficient light to the interior of the tree to produce annual fruit buds. Reduced pruning of cider trees may also reduce airflow into the tree canopy and thus could increase some fungal diseases. Finally, access to the trees by pickers and other workers may be difficult if trees are not adequately pruned on at least a biennial basis. While intensive pruning may be reduced somewhat in cider apple trees, trees that are ‘let go’ will decline in fruit production and quality in just a few years’ time.

Management of orchard fertility specifically for cider apple production has not been specifically optimized for New England conditions nor for the multiple cider apple cultivars and planting systems used. Apple fertility programs recommended in New England have generally been developed for optimum fresh market fruit which are grown for (relatively) large fruit size. Cider-specific apples are typically managed for maximum, preferably annual, tonnage of fruit, with less regard for fruit size. Both fresh market and cider apple production systems will ultimately remove substantial amounts of mineral nutrients from the orchard system, and those must be replaced either from the soil reserves or through application of fertilizing materials. Some important minerals to maintain include potassium, boron, calcium, and magnesium, and those should be managed in the same way for both dessert and cider cultivars. Some research suggests that the phenolic (tannin) content of cider cultivar juice may benefit lower levels of nitrogen than are typically recommended for dessert fruit.For biennial cider cultivars, it may be prudent to reduce nitrogen applications in the ‘off’ year in order to reduce excessive vegetative growth. The increased susceptibility of many European cider cultivars to fire blight may also justify a reduced-nitrogen program for those trees.

As with any orchard nutrient management program, it is important to know the nutrient status of the trees and the soil before making fertilizer applications. The same recommendations for foliar tissue sampling and soil analysis as are included for fresh fruit are suggested for cider orchards.

Crop load management in cider apples is approached with different goals than for dessert fruit. For cider apples, fruit size is not typically an important consideration, nor necessarily is reduction of fruit clustering. Typically, a cider apple grower is seeking high total tonnage of smaller apples with higher skin-to-flesh ratio, preferably on an annual basis. Therefore, aggressive thinning and especially thinners that promote cell division (e.g., benzyladenine-containing materials) are not generally recommended in cider orchards. Many European cider apple cultivars show limited response to most chemical thinners and tend to adopt biennial bearing habits regardless of crop load management practices applied.

Because cosmetic finish is not a major concern for cider apples, IPM programs are an area where input and management reductions may be made without compromising the profitability of the orchard. There are multiple considerations in tailoring an IPM approach in a cider orchard. First, as mentioned above, if any substantial portion of the crop will be sold to a higher-value, higher-quality standard market, then the IPM program should be tailored to meet that highest market. This means that growers who plan to sell the majority of their crop as fresh fruit and the off-grade fruit to cideries should manage the orchard to maximize fresh market fruit, which may eliminate any potential management savings from reduced inputs. If a crop is managed from the beginning of the season, or after a hail storm or other event that reduces fruit finish, as intended for cider, then there may be some opportunities to reduce inputs and management compared to a fresh market crop.

Only a handful of diseases and insect pests in New England may be considered purely cosmetic and thus may warrant not managing at all in cider orchards. For example, tarnished plant bug causes cosmetic fruit damage, especially early in the season prior to bloom. In cider orchards, insecticide treatment for this pest at pink bud stage may be skipped. Likewise, the summer diseases sooty blotch and flyspeck are not of concern on cider apples, and their management may be skipped. However, there may be other pests and diseases that are active at those same times which could negatively affect crop quantity or quality. Many cider apple cultivars appear to be especially susceptible to summer fruit rots, so complete elimination of disease management in summer after primary apple scab ascospore release may not be prudent.

Apple scab deserves discussion in regards to its potential to impact profitability of cider apple production. Scab is often considered a cosmetic disease, and thus one for which management on cider apples may be reduced. In an orchard where scab is managed, but some disease incidence breaks through because of poor fungicide coverage, missed infection periods, or fungicide resistance, the visual effects often do appear cosmetic. But the apple scab fungus derives all of its energy from the host, and may weaken trees even when infection is only moderate. Apple scab infection may reduce crop yield and quality, and severe fruit scab can lead to secondary fruit rots. Scab is best managed through a preventative approach, including reduction of overwintering inoculum and avoidance of primary ascospore infections which can prevent season-long disease management. The urge to lighten up on scab management in cider apples may be strong, but it is still best to protect trees from the disease rigorously during primary ascospore release to reduce management needs later in the season.

Fire blight is one disease which the cider apple grower should be especially vigilant. Many European bittersweet and bittersharp cider cultivars are highly susceptible to this disease. Such cultivars also tend to bloom one to two weeks after most dessert cultivars grown in New England. This shifts the management of blossom fire blight on these cultivars into early summer when temperatures are typically warmer, which further increases infection potential. The management practices for cider cultivars are the same as for dessert cultivars, so as long as growers are fastidious in performing them, the disease should be manageable. It is especially important to maintain a comprehensive management program against the disease, including inoculum reduction, nutrient management, reduction of vegetative growth, and application of antibiotics during blossom infection.

Insect pests often cause cosmetic damage to fruit for which cider apple growers may be relatively tolerant. Some pests, e.g., plum curculio and European apple sawfly, may cause fruit significant abscission that can reduce crop yield at harvest; others, e.g., codling moth and other lepidopteran pests may cause damage that can leave fruit susceptible to rots that can leave fruit unusable for cider making. Therefore, insect pest management on cider apples should not be ignored. For example, growers may consider reducing applications targeting certain pest generations, such as targeting plum curculio with a single well-timed insecticide application as opposed to 2-3 applications using the standard degree day model. More research on adaptation of scouting thresholds and damage tolerance levels on cider apples is needed before recommendations for specific cider IPM programs may be developed.

Harvest labor costs for cider apples may potentially be reduced compared to costs for picking dessert fruit, because pickers would typically ‘strip-pick’ all fruit from the tree rather than be selective for fruit size and color requirements for fresh market apples. However, cider apples are often smaller than dessert fruit, which can increase harvest time and eliminate labor gains made by strip-picking. Cider apples are typically ripened as much as possible on the tree, which makes them prone to drop either during or prior to harvest. Some cider apple growers even wait until a substantial portion of the fruit is on the ground, then shake the remaining fruit from the trees and harvest from the orchard floor. While this method may be efficient and lend itself to optimum ripeness development, as well as potentially to mechanical harvest, food safety must be a primary consideration. Most food safety plans for sweet cider would preclude the intentional harvest of fruit from the ground, which can introduce numerous human pathogens to the fruit. While fermentation is an accepted method for reducing pathogen load in finished ciders, ground harvested fruit should be sorted for rots and debris and washed prior to pressing. If shared equipment will be used for juice intended for both sweet cider and fermented cider, fruit storage and equipment sanitation become especially critical and written procedures and compliance standards should be maintained to ensure that fresh cider does not become contaminated with pathogens.