Cider makers battle pests and dry weather

Cider apple growers say this year's harvest has been hit by a combination of pests and dry weather, with some reporting fruit dropping before it ripened and smaller yields than usual.

Producers across the country are reporting similar problems as harvesting gets under way.

Among them are Justyna and Stuart Jones, who are developing an orchard at their home near Minsterley in Shropshire with hopes of producing cider from their own apples in retirement.

They say this year has brought a series of challenges, from prolonged dry spells to damage caused by codling moths, whose larvae burrow into fruit.

"This year, we have stripped quite a lot of apples but that's more down to a lot of codling moth and trying to restrict that [from spreading]," Stuart said.

"We have heard it from a lot of growers this year, people getting worried about the amount of little beasties in their apples and their fruit.

"They didn't seem to have impacted our pears or the soft fruit. The blackbirds and the crows have done their job for them there."

The couple, who began planting trees three years ago, also faced difficulties during periods of hot weather over the summer.

"There was a heatwave so the trees did not really have chance to grow too much due to the droughts," Justyna said.

"We needed to manually add a little bit of water, not a huge amount, because the new trees that we actually planted would have died otherwise."

While the conditions have reduced yields in some orchards, Stuart believed there could still be a silver lining for cider makers.

Smaller apples can produce more concentrated flavours because they contain a higher skin-to-flesh ratio.

"There's potential that cider this year may be quite strong," he said.

"Those producers that don't dilute and do it properly will see quite good strength in the cider that they produce, but we'll have to wait until later in the year because people will still be pressing in October, November and December."

The couple added that warmer summers could benefit cider apple growing in the long term, although they said growers may need to invest in extra water storage if they are to do so sustainably.

What the Joneses have experienced reflects a wider picture across the industry.

Mark Hopper, from the National Association of Cider Makers, said the harvest had started earlier than usual this year and acknowledged the difficulties many growers were facing.

"It has been a genuinely difficult season for some growers and cider makers. We fully understand that, and we know it won't feel like a normal year to everyone in the industry," he said.

However, he said strong harvests over the previous two years have left some larger producers well placed to cope with a smaller crop.

"Harvest peaks in October, and with some rain now arriving, there's optimism that later-cropping fruit will benefit," he said.

"We'll be watching closely over the coming weeks, and we're grateful to the growers and cider makers doing the hard work of getting this harvest in under difficult conditions."

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