New apple variety

[Loyal Coug1]

Here's yet another bitch of mine. Why do we need yet another apple variety, and how much federal (aka taxpayer) money was spent to develop this one? Geezus, when I shop at Winco, which rocks, there are like 10 different apple varieties in the bins. But we need more? Why? I suppose it is because WSU gets a shitload of ongoing state and mostly federal funding, so they have to do something to spend the money on. Hell I have 2 varieties in my fridge. Taste about the same.

While federal grant funding is not a huge part of the federal budget, there appears to be no oversight for any of the granting agencies. I've ranted before about our Shock Physics program, which I believe has contributed -0- to society after millions and millions in grant money. And our decades long Biofuel program, which I believe has resulted in nothing, in contrast to our numerous touting's of it over the years.

And not just pick on my alma mater, some of the shit I've seen at other stops are like really? And I had a hand in submitting some of those grants, which made me want to barf on the documents. Times that by institutions throughout the country. Oh and wheat research. Many universities, locally WSU and OSU, are doing all this research and developing new varieties. Why? And why do we need programs and costly administrative structures for all of them?

https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/a-new-apple-is-headed-to-washington-orchards-with-a-naming-contest-planned-in-2024/article_db65bb4e-988b-11ee-aeb0-9b02a7fec7cb.htm

Gawd and once again I try to start a thread and this site F's me up. Is it just me? I've asked this question many times and have never gotten any response from this board. Hello McFly?

 

[roses04]

Because the apples keep getting better, both in taste and longevity in storage. 50 years ago, you had red delicious and golden delicious, granny smiths and a few others, and many didn't last well in storage. Most have heard of Honeycrisp, great apple, however a new one came out a few years ago called a SugarBee, and it is better than a Honeycrisp IMO. If you haven't tried one, look for it in one of those 10 varieties, it is hard to find.
A red delicious does not even come close to either one of these apples in flavor, in fact it's boring compared to either one of these.
Why do we need all these microbrews, or mushrooms, and any variety of anything? Because people all have different tastes and likes, and like any other product, apples are simply trying to expand their appeal to more customers.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

Because the apples keep getting better, both in taste and longevity in storage. 50 years ago, you had red delicious and golden delicious, granny smiths and a few others, and many didn't last well in storage. Most have heard of Honeycrisp, great apple, however a new one came out a few years ago called a SugarBee, and it is better than a Honeycrisp IMO. If you haven't tried one, look for it in one of those 10 varieties, it is hard to find.
A red delicious does not even come close to either one of these apples in flavor, in fact it's boring compared to either one of these.
Why do we need all these microbrews, or mushrooms, and any variety of anything? Because people all have different tastes and likes, and like any other product, apples are simply trying to expand their appeal to more customers.

First, I agree that red delicious looks great but sucks for taste. I live in YakiVegas, where they have "CA" (controlled atmosphere) storage which has been around for decades. Basically, they have big warehouses, they close them up, put the temp down to damn near freezing, and suck out all the oxygen. That's why you can get a crispy apple in the store 11 months after harvest. Our recently developed WSU Crimson Crisp variety is pretty yummy. But there again, how many varieties do you need? An apple is pretty much an apple.

 

[KRUSTYtheCOUG]

Here's yet another bitch of mine. Why do we need yet another apple variety, and how much federal (aka taxpayer) money was spent to develop this one? Geezus, when I shop at Winco, which rocks, there are like 10 different apple varieties in the bins. But we need more? Why? I suppose it is because WSU gets a shitload of ongoing state and mostly federal funding, so they have to do something to spend the money on. Hell I have 2 varieties in my fridge. Taste about the same.

While federal grant funding is not a huge part of the federal budget, there appears to be no oversight for any of the granting agencies. I've ranted before about our Shock Physics program, which I believe has contributed -0- to society after millions and millions in grant money. And our decades long Biofuel program, which I believe has resulted in nothing, in contrast to our numerous touting's of it over the years.

And not just pick on my alma mater, some of the shit I've seen at other stops are like really? And I had a hand in submitting some of those grants, which made me want to barf on the documents. Times that by institutions throughout the country. Oh and wheat research. Many universities, locally WSU and OSU, are doing all this research and developing new varieties. Why? And why do we need programs and costly administrative structures for all of them?

https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/a-new-apple-is-headed-to-washington-orchards-with-a-naming-contest-planned-in-2024/article_db65bb4e-988b-11ee-aeb0-9b02a7fec7cb.htm

Gawd and once again I try to start a thread and this site F's me up. Is it just me? I've asked this question many times and have never gotten any response from this board. Hello McFly?

I generally don't have a problem with grant money being dolled out for research on new and cutting-edge technologies. This has resulted in more advancements than anyone even is aware of. Some come via accident and others as a result of failures and dead-ends or unforseen research that is born from some anomaly in the original pursuit. Sure, some of it is pure b*** sh!t, but I am on the side that the benefits out weight the losses. That's all I have to say about that.

 

[Stretch 74]

First, I agree that red delicious looks great but sucks for taste. I live in YakiVegas, where they have "CA" (controlled atmosphere) storage which has been around for decades. Basically, they have big warehouses, they close them up, put the temp down to damn near freezing, and suck out all the oxygen. That's why you can get a crispy apple in the store 11 months after harvest. Our recently developed WSU Crimson Crisp variety is pretty yummy. But there again, how many varieties do you need? An apple is pretty much an apple.

Well, why do we need 783 types of anything as you walk down the aisles of your local Safeway, Albertson's, Super 1, Fred Meyer, etc?

Perhaps there is a long term benefit to having biodiversity in apples, wheat, potatoes, etc? Who knows what might be the effects of things like a new crop disease or climate change? Some varieties my fade out while others thrive from such outside effects.

When I grew up there were thousands and thousands of acres of peas grown in the Skagit Valley. Now there are basically none, although there may be a few acres from a truck farmer. Maybe. So what happened to eliminate such a profitable crop? I believe it was a disease called pea wilt. Similar things could happen to other crops.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

They ruined Fuji like they ruined Red Delicious. Honeycrisp is next.

 

[95coug]

First, I agree that red delicious looks great but sucks for taste. I live in YakiVegas, where they have "CA" (controlled atmosphere) storage which has been around for decades. Basically, they have big warehouses, they close them up, put the temp down to damn near freezing, and suck out all the oxygen. That's why you can get a crispy apple in the store 11 months after harvest. Our recently developed WSU Crimson Crisp variety is pretty yummy. But there again, how many varieties do you need? An apple is pretty much an apple.

Because the consumer wants selection.

I'm going to disagree that "An apple is pretty much an apple" though. Red delicious are not. They're gross. The texture and consistency is far inferior to many other varieties. Golden delicious and Grannys aren't worth eating off the tree, but they make damn good apple crisp and pie.

What many people don't see - and I was surprised by when I used to do pesticide residue sampling in a former life - is just how choosy the consumer is, and how that results in a small fraction of apples making it to market. If you go into a grocery store and shop for apples, no matter what variety you're looking at you're going to find roughly the same size apples. There's some variation between varieties, but in general all the Grannys are the same size, the Fujis are the same size, etc. If you go to the orchard, this is not the case. That fist-sized apple is a relatively small portion of the crop, but it's 99% of what you see in the stores. In the orchard, there are a lot that are twice that size, and trust me...they taste just as good. But consumers don't want giant apples, so those get culled and turned into applesauce or sold to a less discriminating country...or left to rot.

American consumers are too damn picky, which is part of why we keep getting new varieties. We want new flavors, we want sweeter, we want not as sweeter, we want firmer and softer, for baking and for eating. And we want them all just the right size.

So blame yourselves.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

Here's yet another bitch of mine. Why do we need yet another apple variety, and how much federal (aka taxpayer) money was spent to develop this one? Geezus, when I shop at Winco, which rocks, there are like 10 different apple varieties in the bins. But we need more? Why? I suppose it is because WSU gets a shitload of ongoing state and mostly federal funding, so they have to do something to spend the money on. Hell I have 2 varieties in my fridge. Taste about the same.

While federal grant funding is not a huge part of the federal budget, there appears to be no oversight for any of the granting agencies. I've ranted before about our Shock Physics program, which I believe has contributed -0- to society after millions and millions in grant money. And our decades long Biofuel program, which I believe has resulted in nothing, in contrast to our numerous touting's of it over the years.

And not just pick on my alma mater, some of the shit I've seen at other stops are like really? And I had a hand in submitting some of those grants, which made me want to barf on the documents. Times that by institutions throughout the country. Oh and wheat research. Many universities, locally WSU and OSU, are doing all this research and developing new varieties. Why? And why do we need programs and costly administrative structures for all of them?

https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/a-new-apple-is-headed-to-washington-orchards-with-a-naming-contest-planned-in-2024/article_db65bb4e-988b-11ee-aeb0-9b02a7fec7cb.htm

Gawd and once again I try to start a thread and this site F's me up. Is it just me? I've asked this question many times and have never gotten any response from this board. Hello McFly?

Since they are doing a naming contest for WA-64 I hope one of you will submit the name of Crimson Crisp. Why? Because screw those traitors on the West side.

 

[cr8zyncalif]

I occasionally can get Cosmic Crisp in SoCal. We are at the very end of the fresh produce chain for stuff coming from WA. I'm lucky to get Walla2 sweet onions for more than a week or so. Cosmic Crisp is a bit less sweet than Honeycrisp, but has a more crisp texture. As several of you have noted, no two varieties are the same.

As for Loyal's original point, WSU feeds at the tit of Ag research. And that is not all a waste...as you continue to tinker with plant science, you often find stuff you did not expect. The whole story of Gaines and Nugaines illustrates how plant science has always worked, and apples are just one more area where being at the front end of knowledge is useful.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

Because the consumer wants selection.

I'm going to disagree that "An apple is pretty much an apple" though. Red delicious are not. They're gross. The texture and consistency is far inferior to many other varieties. Golden delicious and Grannys aren't worth eating off the tree, but they make damn good apple crisp and pie.

What many people don't see - and I was surprised by when I used to do pesticide residue sampling in a former life - is just how choosy the consumer is, and how that results in a small fraction of apples making it to market. If you go into a grocery store and shop for apples, no matter what variety you're looking at you're going to find roughly the same size apples. There's some variation between varieties, but in general all the Grannys are the same size, the Fujis are the same size, etc. If you go to the orchard, this is not the case. That fist-sized apple is a relatively small portion of the crop, but it's 99% of what you see in the stores. In the orchard, there are a lot that are twice that size, and trust me...they taste just as good. But consumers don't want giant apples, so those get culled and turned into applesauce or sold to a less discriminating country...or left to rot.

American consumers are too damn picky, which is part of why we keep getting new varieties. We want new flavors, we want sweeter, we want not as sweeter, we want firmer and softer, for baking and for eating. And we want them all just the right size.

So blame yourselves.

Are you goading me into another woman post?

 

[95coug]

Are you goading me into another woman post?

I used "fist-sized" in place of "a handful, give or take" just to avoid that.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

I used "fist-sized" in place of "a handful, give or take" just to avoid that.

No it was the firmer and softer and just the right size part.