Making the most of the Cripps Red

This year, Two-a-Day’s Stewart Murray Champagne Orchard Trophy went to a Cripps Red apple orchard at Dunmanway Farm. Owner James Downes spoke to Glenneis Kriel about his exceptional orchard.

- Glenneis Kriel

The 1,5ha Cripps Red orchard that won Two-a-Day's Stewart Murray Champagne Orchard Trophy earlier this year was manipulated to produce 157t of apples per hectare to help reduce plant vigour.

One would think such high yields would negatively impact packouts, but it did not. About 128t of the apples went to Two-a-Day's packhouse, of which an impressive 94% was graded as Class 1. What's more, apple counts averaged at 135, which is the best count possible and means each apple measured between 67mm and 72mm in diameter.

The orchard, consisting of old strain Cripps Red on MM109 rootstock, was planted at Dunmanway Farm in Grabouw in 2016, at a density of 2272 trees per hectare. Granny Smith is used as the pollinator, planted every third tree in every third row.

Cripps Red and Cripps Pink apples are related, with Cripps Red having a red instead of a pink blush. The apple itself, sold under the Sundowner trade name, has firm, crisp flesh, and a sweet-tart flavour.

SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT

James Downes, owner of Dunmanway Farm, ascribes the success of the orchard to the cool climatic conditions of the farm, which favours the production of bicoloured apples. Along with this, all the farm's orchards were planted on virgin soil. As such, the land did not come with the soil health or disease 'baggage' associated with older, developed land.

The advisory services provided by Two-aDay's technical support team, called Fruitmax, is another big contributor to the farm's success.

"The pome fruit industry experienced an explosion of technological advancements in terms of varieties, orchard design and tree architecture since I joined the farm in September 1999.

"Fruitmax has production-based data on the performance of various varieties and management practices, which they use to inform farmers about what would work best under their circumstances."

FAMILY SUPPORT