How Do You Like Them Apples?

Few things feel more like fall than apple picking, but leaves haven’t been the only things dropping in NH. Last year, apple farms had their worst crop of the past five years, with production valued at $9 million—down from $17 million in 2008, according to the NH’s Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food. However, growers are happy with this year’s harvest, says Gail Jellie, director of the Division of Agricultural Development at NH’s Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food.

A weather-dependent industry, apple orchards’ fortunes can rise and fall with Mother Nature’s temperament. And with cheaper wholesale production outside the country, many NH orchards are producing less fruit, Jellie says, requiring them to diversify their offerings. While pick-your-own is still a large part of business, increasingly so too are hayrides, weddings, vegetable stands, community supported agriculture  and grocery store sales. Alyson’s Orchard in Walpole hosts 30 weddings annually, double that of five years ago. They have five wedding sites, with fees of $2,500 to $6,000. Weddings account for one third of revenue, with the orchard and related sales making up the rest. “We’re not catering to just the leaf peepers and tourists, but the locals because they’re the ones that will keep us in business,” says Homer Dunn, orchard manager.

During the past five years, Applecrest Farms in Hampton Falls have grown their offerings to include hayrides, a petting farm, festivals, and music, says Owner Peter Wagner. Applecrest, which turned 100 this year, also offers a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in which participants receive a box of fresh fruit and vegetables equaling roughly $30. Applecrest has 130 shareholders. “We have a unique opportunity that typical businesses can’t offer; we offer not only a product, but a way of life."

Some smaller orchards have stuck to their pick-your-own roots with success. Butternut Farm in Farmington produces 5,000 to 6,000 bushels of apples a year, a third of what is produced at Alyson’s and an eighth of Applecrest Farm’s production. Yet about 17,000 carloads of people come each season, picking the orchards clean four of the last five years, says Owner Giff Burnap. “If you can create a tradition with families, it gets woven into the their fabric so generations will come,” he says.

For Brookdale Fruit Farms in Hollis, decreasing wholesale business means finding new revenue sources. Brookdale distributes to local farm stands and a variety of Hannaford and Shaw’s markets in Southern NH. It sends an average of three truckloads a week to larger stores during harvest season. With multiple Shaw’s stores closing in NH, Brookdale is unsure how it will replace those sales, says Eleanor Whittemore, president of Brookdale.

Frazier, a 2013 intern at Business NH Magazine and a sophomore at Southern NH University in Manchester.