Something New - Rapid Apple Decline; 80% Of North Carolina Orchards Already Infected

[hatrack]

It’s the time of year when people who love apples celebrate. But there’s a new threat to the U.S.’s $4 billion annual apple industry. Young apple trees have been suddenly dying.

In North Carolina, up to 80% of orchards have been affected. Pennsylvania’s apple industry, valued at $107 million last year and fourth in the nation, is also at risk. Researchers call the problem Rapid Apple Decline or RAD, and they’re trying to figure out what’s causing it.

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One grower who’s worried about his apple trees is Noah Petronic. He’s the orchard manager at Soergel Orchards in Wexford, north of Pittsburgh. As he walks down a row of Braeburns, most of the trees look healthy, with green leaves and bountiful pink fruit. But a couple trees have taken on a strange rusty hue and are clearly struggling.

“You can just see the first two trees you hit right here have shut down just over the past few weeks,” he said. “And I can point out about another five or six that are shutting down.” Petronic started noticing the problem around 2013. “You have a beautiful crop on, especially August-September,” he said, looking toward a withering tree. “And then, all of a sudden, you’d come back a week later, and it would be dead.”

EDIT

https://www.alleghenyfront.org/its-just-baffling-apple-growers-face-an-unknown-threat-thats-killing-trees/

[sue4e3]

1. Terrible

I only had two trees , both 7 years old and they died fast for no reason a few years ago . We tested the PH and I even called people who knew so much more than me on this topic and they couldn't find the cause. It was actually very upsetting to me. Not that I think my two trees are particularly special , I could just relate to the upset

[hlthe2b]

2. That would be almost as hard as seeing livestock die for no apparent reason...

I remember this happening when I was a little girl to my grandfather's small farm. The first and only time I saw him cry. It was his business, yes, but he never denied the fact that these lives were in his hands and he never treated an animal less than humanely--and more so, kindly.

Seeing dead trees for no apparent reason would be startling and sad.