New England Cider Apple Grower Research Priorities

A note on privacy: This survey is anonymous.
The intent of this survey is to prioritize research needs of growers of specialty cider apple cultivars in New England. You may answer none, any, or all questions in the survey, but complete surveys will generate more meaningful results.

This survey will be only be open until September 7. It should take 3-5 minutes to complete.

Survey results will be reported to grant providers, administrators and the academic community to quantify impacts and justify support for cider apple research and outreach on behalf of New England farmers. Your participation in completing this survey is appreciated. All data will be kept confidential and will not be linked back to any individual operation. This survey complies with Institutional Review Board policies at the University of Vermont (UVM) under project CHRBSS: 18-0332.

Questions regarding this survey may be directed to:
Terence Bradshaw, tbradsha@uvm.edu, (802)656-0972.

Questions regarding Institutional Review Board policies and procedures may be directed to:
irb@uvm.edu, or (802)656-5040.

Question Title

* 1. Are you presently growing cider apples on your farm?

Yes

Question Title

* 2. Are you considering growing or increasing plantings of cider apples on your farm?

Yes

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* 3. What opportunities do you see in growing cider apples? Please rank.

Market diversification

Increased price per bushel

Decreased management costs

Improved quality of cider you make

Increased profitability

Question Title

* 4. Please rank the following issues for your perception of their effect on difficulty in producing cider apples on your farm:

Cultivar selection

Canopy management- pruning

Canopy management- training

Biennial bearing

Fire blight

Other disease issues

Insect management

Pollination

Sunburn

Harvest labor

Sourcing nursery trees

Quality of nursery trees

Cold hardiness

Question Title

* 5. Please rate each potential research focus 1-5 with 1= Lowest priority and 5=highest priority. These are not ranked, each focus is independent of the others. Consider that this research will be conducted in a three-year timeframe and with not unlimited funds.

	Lowest priority				Highest priority	N/A
Cultivar evaluation	Cultivar evaluation Lowest priority	Cultivar evaluation	Cultivar evaluation	Cultivar evaluation	Cultivar evaluation Highest priority	Cultivar evaluation N/A
Canopy management – hedging	Canopy management – hedging Lowest priority	Canopy management – hedging	Canopy management – hedging	Canopy management – hedging	Canopy management – hedging Highest priority	Canopy management – hedging N/A
Training systems; low vs high density	Training systems; low vs high density Lowest priority	Training systems; low vs high density	Training systems; low vs high density	Training systems; low vs high density	Training systems; low vs high density Highest priority	Training systems; low vs high density N/A
Fire blight modelling and management	Fire blight modelling and management Lowest priority	Fire blight modelling and management	Fire blight modelling and management	Fire blight modelling and management	Fire blight modelling and management Highest priority	Fire blight modelling and management N/A
Specific cider IPM programs	Specific cider IPM programs Lowest priority	Specific cider IPM programs	Specific cider IPM programs	Specific cider IPM programs	Specific cider IPM programs Highest priority	Specific cider IPM programs N/A
Managing biennialism with plant growth regulators	Managing biennialism with plant growth regulators Lowest priority	Managing biennialism with plant growth regulators	Managing biennialism with plant growth regulators	Managing biennialism with plant growth regulators	Managing biennialism with plant growth regulators Highest priority	Managing biennialism with plant growth regulators N/A
Harvest mechanizaton	Harvest mechanizaton Lowest priority	Harvest mechanizaton	Harvest mechanizaton	Harvest mechanizaton	Harvest mechanizaton Highest priority	Harvest mechanizaton N/A

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 6. Rate the following outputs for their potential effectiveness in delivering research results

	Not useful		Moderately useful		Highly useful	N/A
Regional cider-specific session at New England Vegetable & Fruit Meetings in winter	Regional cider-specific session at New England Vegetable & Fruit Meetings in winter Not useful	Regional cider-specific session at New England Vegetable & Fruit Meetings in winter	Regional cider-specific session at New England Vegetable & Fruit Meetings in winter Moderately useful	Regional cider-specific session at New England Vegetable & Fruit Meetings in winter	Regional cider-specific session at New England Vegetable & Fruit Meetings in winter Highly useful	Regional cider-specific session at New England Vegetable & Fruit Meetings in winter N/A
Separate, specific cider apple production meetings	Separate, specific cider apple production meetings Not useful	Separate, specific cider apple production meetings	Separate, specific cider apple production meetings Moderately useful	Separate, specific cider apple production meetings	Separate, specific cider apple production meetings Highly useful	Separate, specific cider apple production meetings N/A
On-farm twilight meetings	On-farm twilight meetings Not useful	On-farm twilight meetings	On-farm twilight meetings Moderately useful	On-farm twilight meetings	On-farm twilight meetings Highly useful	On-farm twilight meetings N/A
Project-specific website	Project-specific website Not useful	Project-specific website	Project-specific website Moderately useful	Project-specific website	Project-specific website Highly useful	Project-specific website N/A
Project-specific email list and newsletters	Project-specific email list and newsletters Not useful	Project-specific email list and newsletters	Project-specific email list and newsletters Moderately useful	Project-specific email list and newsletters	Project-specific email list and newsletters Highly useful	Project-specific email list and newsletters N/A
Project-specific social media	Project-specific social media Not useful	Project-specific social media	Project-specific social media Moderately useful	Project-specific social media	Project-specific social media Highly useful	Project-specific social media N/A

Other (please specify)