On 10/31/2014 6:42 PM, Karl Townsend wrote:
...
Is that when you switched to Honeycrisp, or had you planted/grafted
them that way from the start?


AND there's time to go fishing.

Great!

So, did the near crop failure result in the loss of 80% of your trees?
From "cut all expenses" to "20% of the volume" is a massive jump.

I was big in Honeycrisp before it was even named. For several years I
sold a great deal of budwood to several nurseries. I'm removing blocks
due to old age now.

The crop loss was just a spring freeze, so no long term damage and I
had the entire year to plan my moves. being a grower is a bit like
playing cards, you have to learn to play the hand you're dealt.
Believe or not, my top three worst years were bumper crops. My two
best years were small crops. In other words if you lose money on every
bushel, you can't make up for it with volume.

BTW, 60 is just a kid, right?

karl



It's hard to imagine how you contend with variables that you have
absolutely no control over. It's bad enough without complete unknowns,
I never want to play Poker with you!