If you love apples, you’ve come to the right place! New York State apple farms have been growing great Apple Country® apples for over 300 years. They have lots of practice in producing the finest apples in the most varieties grown anywhere in the United States. The fine glacial soil and warm breezes from Lake Ontario, the Hudson River Valley and Lake Champlain practically guarantee superior quality apples.

New York apple growers take great pride in quality of their fruit and their farm operations. They accept their responsibility for producing outstanding fruit while taking care to treat the land, water and air ever so gently. Apples can be difficult to grow. Over 700 different insects and diseases can affect apples, many more than other crops. But, apple growers know that the best way to grow excellent fruit is to treat the earth with the utmost respect.

Apple Country® apple growers committed to caring for the earth decades ago. They were among the first in the world to adopt Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques. IPM involves managing pests by a sophisticated combination of biological, horticultural and chemical tools to be sure that safe and high quality apples are grown without any harm to the environment. The growers make widespread use of these IPM tools:

• Monitoring of temperature and weather patterns
  
  
• Introducing “good bugs” into the orchard to eat the “bad bugs” that damage apples
  
  
• Using beneficial fungi, bacteria and viruses to kill or disable apple pests
  
  
• Placing special traps in the orchard to capture “bad bugs” before they can do damage

Remember, most growers live right in the midst of their orchards. They take their responsibility seriously to protect their own families, as well as yours. And, of course, they want to pass down the family farm to their children so it makes perfect sense to treat the land with care.