Cider-apple Orchards Research Articles

Toward a new generation of cider apple orchards in the northeastern United States

Toward a new generation of cider apple orchards in the northeastern United States

Fruitlet Thinning Reduces Biennial Bearing in Seven High-tannin Cider Apple Cultivars

Many European apple (Malus ×domestica Borkh.) cultivars used for making alcoholic cider have a highly biennial bearing habit. To determine target crop load recommendations, seven cider cultivars grown in a high-density orchard were hand-thinned to crop densities of 0, 3, 6, and 9 fruit/cm2 trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) or left unthinned as a control for 3 consecutive years (2016–18). Treatments were imposed on the same trees for all 3 years. Greater year-to-year yield variability, as measured by the biennial bearing index (BBI), correlated negatively with cumulative yields both within and among cultivars. Greater crop density had a negative correlation with the amount of return bloom in all years, but reducing crop density had a negligible effect on return bloom in the “off” year. When trees were left unthinned in the high-crop “on” years there was little to no return bloom in the following year. Partial budget analysis found that manually reducing crop density would result in a positive net change in 3-year profitability for Dabinett, but not the other cultivars. Over 4 years, under conservative assumptions about fruit set, chemical thinning to 9 fruit/cm2 TCSA would likely result in increased cumulative profitability in all seven cultivars. Hand-thinning was projected to be less profitable than chemical thinning but would still result in increased net profitability over 4 years, for five of the seven cultivars. These findings highlight the horticultural and economic benefits of crop load management for cider apple orchards. Further, many high-tannin cider cultivars can sustain a higher crop density than what is recommended for fresh-market apple production and still have adequate return bloom and cumulative yields.

Mechanically Harvesting Hard Cider Apples Is More Economically Favorable than Hand Harvesting, Regardless of Farm Scale

Harvesting labor is the largest annual variable operating expense for apple (Malus ×domestica) orchard enterprises and is subject to escalating costs and shortages. In Europe, much of the cider apple harvesting is done with machinery, greatly reducing production costs. However, despite a rapid increase in hard cider production in North America over the past 15 years, mechanical cider apple harvesting has not been widely implemented. In this study, we compared mechanical with hand harvesting costs for model 5-, 15-, and 60-acre cider apple orchards located in New York using a partial budget model. Scale-appropriate harvesters were identified for use at each farm scale. Sensitivity analyses were used to test the cost differential for using each piece of machinery on varying orchard sizes and to model changes in labor costs. Across all orchard scales, we found that mechanically harvesting cider apples was more profitable than hand harvesting, with larger operations breaking even sooner and realizing greater returns than operations using hand harvesting. Mechanical harvesting costs broke even with hand harvesting in years 16, 7, and 5 and by year 30 reduced cumulative harvesting costs by 23%, 52%, and 53% in our 5-, 15-, and 60-acre model orchards, respectively. Increasing the orchard size resulted in greater returns from mechanical harvesting. Using the machinery in the 15-acre orchard scenario on a 30-acre farm resulted in costs breaking even with hand harvesting in year 3; by year 30, the cumulative costs resulted in 66% lower harvesting costs than hand labor. Mechanical harvesting remained profitable when labor wages were decreased and became more profitable in scenarios with increasing wages. For example, in the 60-acre orchard, mechanical harvesting cost 41% less than hand harvesting with a 2% annual compounding decrease in labor wages; with 2% annual compounding increase in labor wages, the mechanical harvesting cost was 63% less than hand harvesting. In addition to the cost savings, mechanical harvesting allows for harvesting cider apples with fewer logistical challenges, such as contracting, housing, and transporting migrant labor.

Summer Mechanical Hedging to Prune Eight Cider Apple Cultivars

Mechanical hedging was evaluated at Washington State University Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center, Mount Vernon, WA, in 2019 and 2020 on eight cider apple (Malus ×domestica) cultivars with four bearing habits: tip—Golden Russet, Harrison; spur—Brown Snout, Cap of Liberty; semispur—Tom Putt, Campfield; and crab—Puget Spice, Hewe’s Virginia Crab. Trees were planted on ‘Geneva 935’ (Malus hybrid) rootstock in one replicate block in 2014 and the second replicate block in 2016 and the central leader of all trees was headed in 2017 to equalize tree size and stage of development. Summer hedging was carried out on all cultivars on 16 July in 2019 and 7 July in 2020. The response of different cultivars was evaluated both years by measuring canopy area removed, shoot biomass removed, and fruit removed, and the amount of time to hedge was measured. Additionally, fruit diameter and fruit yield per tree were measured at harvest both years, and fruit weight was measured at harvest only in 2020. The hedger traveled at an average speed of 1.32 mph; it took 6 seconds on average to hedge both sides of one tree when in-row spacing was 6 ft and took 1.25 minutes to maneuver around the end of a row. The estimated time to hedge 1 acre was 1.45 hours when the hedger traveled at 116 ft/min and the orchard had 10 rows spaced 12 ft apart. Biomass removed on an area and weight basis was less in 2020 than in 2019, whereas yield per tree was 2.6 times greater in 2020 than 2019, and cultivars within a bearing habit differed in these responses to hedging both years. Fruit damaged by the hedger was assessed but observed to be negligible for all cultivars. Yield per tree was negatively correlated with fruit diameter (P < 0.001) and positively correlated with the number of fruit removed per tree (P < 0.025). Further research is needed to assess the long-term effects of hedging on biomass removal, yield, and biennialism to determine whether summer mechanical hedging is a cost-effective and suitable method for managing cider apple orchards.

Assessing the causes of the low productivity of cider apple orchards in the Spanish region of Gipuzkoa

Assessing the causes of the low productivity of cider apple orchards in the Spanish region of Gipuzkoa

Analysis of the Variability of Floral and Pollen Traits in Apple Cultivars—Selecting Suitable Pollen Donors for Cider Apple Orchards

Most apple trees (Malus domestica Borkh.) are self-incompatible and fruit yield depends on cross-pollination between genetically compatible cultivars with synchronous flowering. Flowering intensity can vary strongly among years due to the biennial bearing habit of the cultivars. The knowledge of the phenological stages and floral and pollen characteristics is essential to select suitable pollen donors. We evaluated the phenotypic variability of flowering-related traits (i.e., flowering phenology, flowering intensity, pollen production and pollen quality) in 45 apple cultivars over two successive flowering seasons. Large phenotypic variability was found among the studied cultivars indicating that the local germplasm collection provides a good source of genetic and phenotypic diversity. However, low correlations were observed between floral biology traits and, consequently, the improvement in one trait seems not to affect other traits. Some of the cultivars such as ‘Perurico’ and ‘Raxila Dulce’ regularly produced copious amounts of high-quality pollen which can improve the pollen load dispersion leading to a most effective pollination process. We did not identify statistically significant correlations between pollen attributes and the biennial bearing phenomenon. The large variation in bloom dates from year-to-year observed under a typical Oceanic climate makes it advisable to combine cultivars in new plantings.

Top-down and bottom-up regulation of codling moth populations in cider apple orchards

The success of biological control by natural enemies in agricultural crops relies on an understanding of the trophic interactions between natural enemies, pests and host plants. Top-down and bottom-up trophic effects, together with potential landscape and local-scale factors, may regulate pest populations. For two years, we analyzed codling moth populations (Cydia pomonella), their crop damage and their parasitoid communities in 26 low-input cider apple orchards in northern Spain. Codling moth abundance was estimated from overwintering larvae sampled with cardboard traps on trees, parasitism was estimated from parasitoids emerged from lab-reared moth larvae, and pest damage was assessed in apples before ripening. Codling moth abundance differed between orchards across years, and was positively correlated with apple production and the cover of apple plantations in the surrounding landscape. The effects of the apple production on codling moth abundance suggest bottom-up pest regulation. Apple damage in individual orchards reached 71%, but decreased with apple production, indicating codling moth satiation. Seven parasitoid species were recorded on codling moth larvae. Parasitism rate in individual orchards reached 42.5% of codling moth larvae. The number of parasitized larvae per orchard was positively related to parasitoid richness, but also to codling moth abundance, suggesting simultaneous top-down and bottom-up effects between parasitoids and pest. This study highlights the need to tackle the whole parasitoid-pest-plant system in order to better manage codling moth damage in orchards. The conservation of complementary parasitoid species through biodiversity-friendly actions should be combined with the control of apple production at the orchard- and landscape scale.

Farmers’ perceptions and knowledge of natural enemies as providers of biological control in cider apple orchards

While the importance of biological control for crop production is widely acknowledged, research on how farmers perceive on-farm natural enemies remains scarce. This paper examines cider-apple farmers' perceptions and knowledge of the concept of biological control and the specific organisms underpinning its provision (i.e. natural enemies) in the cider-apple orchards of Asturias (N Spain). Although these orchards host a high diversity of natural enemies, certain pests continue to be a problem, e.g. the codling moth and the fossorial water vole. By conducting 90 face-to-face surveys, we found that farmers “under-estimated” the importance of biological control and the role played by natural enemies in suppressing pests from cider-apple orchards. Furthermore, farmers were particularly unaware of the indirect benefits of biological control, such as the increased quality and yield of product. Farmers also perceived that different taxa of natural enemies contribute to biological control to differing extents, for example, birds, such as buzzard, robin and tit, were perceived as the most important natural enemies, while arachnids and insects (excluding ladybug) were perceived as less important. This perceived difference in the biological control contribution of vertebrates and invertebrates could be influenced by farmers' local knowledge, acquired on-farm through daily experiences, as well as from external sources. In addition, we found that farmers did recognize many interactions between natural enemies and pests, although there were serious misconceptions and knowledge gaps. Finally, we revealed that education level, being a full-or part time farmer rather than a ‘hobby’ farmer, time spent working in agriculture, and orchard size are all factors that positively influence farmer's perception of natural enemies. Our results provide insights for a future management of cider-apple orchards which promotes biological control through: (1) creating initiatives to develop farmers' knowledge regarding biological control and natural enemies, (2) fostering traditional farming systems that contribute to preserving local ecological knowledge of biological control, and (3) establishing networks of farmers so they can learn from each other and share local knowledge.

Animal biodiversity in cider apple orchards: Simultaneous environmental drivers and effects on insectivory and pollination

Making agriculture more sustainable requires a greater understanding of animal-mediated ecosystem services. The beneficial effects of pest-control and pollination provided by, respectively, insectivorous birds and pollinator insects are essential for many crops. Improving these ecosystem services simultaneously in the same crop system means, first, identifying the drivers of animal biodiversity that operate in agricultural landscapes, and second, revealing the relationships between biodiversity and the two services. Here, for two years, we addressed how landscape and small-scale orchard features affected bird and insect biodiversity (abundance and species richness) in cider apple orchards in northern Spain. We examined the effects of bird and insect biodiversity on the magnitude of, respectively, insectivory and pollination. Bird biodiversity was positively affected by the cover of apple canopy within orchards, whereas that of pollinators responded positively to the cover of semi-natural woody habitats and eucalyptus plantations in the surrounding landscape, and also on the level of bloom at the orchard scale. Insectivory, estimated from sentinel model and exclusion experiments, was positively affected by increased abundance and richness of birds across orchards. Similarly, fruit set responded positively to higher abundance and richness of wild bees, whereas seed set mostly depended on the abundance of wild pollinators. Our findings suggest simultaneous positive effects of animal biodiversity on pest-control and pollination in apple orchards, with no sign of trade-offs between biodiversity groups or between ecosystem functions. A multi-scaled management of orchard-level features (apple canopies and surrounding hedgerows for birds, and apple bloom and ground cover for pollinators) and landscape-level ones (surrounding cover of semi-natural woody habitats, moderate for birds, high for pollinators) is encouraged for the simultaneous enhancement of pest-control and pollination. Biodiversity-farming win-win scenarios are possible in cider apple orchards by simultaneously promoting multiple animal-mediated ecosystem services.

Verger Cidricole de Demain: lessons after a 6-year trial with a systemic approach in order to reduce the use of inputs in young cider apple orchards

Verger Cidricole de Demain: lessons after a 6-year trial with a systemic approach in order to reduce the use of inputs in young cider apple orchards

Unravelling pest infestation and biological control in low-input orchards: the case of apple blossom weevil

Low-input farming is an alternative production system that provides a great opportunity to disentangle the natural mechanisms regulating crop pests, since neither pests nor their natural enemies are disrupted by pesticides. Here, we use a key apple pest in Europe, the apple blossom weevil (Anthonomus pomorum), as a model case to unravel the factors driving pest infestation and its biological control in a low-input context, namely the cider apple orchards of NW Spain. We applied a holistic approach based on the complete life cycle of the pest and combined large-scale observation (23 orchards) with small-scale experimental assessment. Weevil attack (0.4–37.4% of flowers) increased with the proportion on apple trees in the immediate orchard neighbourhood and with semi-natural woody habitat in the surrounding landscape and decreased with tree distance to orchard edge and apple bloom level. Thus, the prevalence of the pest depended on the availability of the various resources required for foraging, egg-lying and overwintering. Three types of natural enemies supplied complementary pest control by preying on weevils at different stages in their life cycle: seven parasitoid species attacked immature weevils (6.4–81.5%), while the additive effects of birds and crawling arthropods were evident in terms of the removal of adult weevils (31–44%). We conclude that the effective biological control of A. pomorum can be achieved in low-input systems to maintain the pest at non-harmful levels, through combined management of the pest, its habitat and its natural enemies.

Birds as suppliers of pest control in cider apple orchards: Avian biodiversity drivers and insectivory effect

Making farming compatible with biodiversity conservation requires identifying the biodiversity drivers that operate in agricultural landscapes, while also addressing the role of biodiversity in ecosystem services. Such integrative information is, however, rare for specific biodiversity groups and services. Here, we focus on insectivorous birds in cider apple orchards in northern Spain, ascertaining the relationships between landscape- and orchard-scale features and bird biodiversity. We conducted field observations and experiments to estimate the potential of birds for controlling arthropod abundance and pest outbreaks in apple trees. Twenty-nine tree-dwelling, insectivorous bird species were observed during one year, inside and around cider apple orchards, with six abundant species representing a predictable core across sites and seasons. Bird abundance and richness increased with the availability of semi-natural woody habitats (hedgerows, remnant trees, and forest patches) both in the immediate neighborhood of the orchard and in the landscape within a 1-km radius of the orchard. Orchards with higher cover of apple tree canopy also harbored a greater abundance and richness of birds. Apple tree branches that were cage-excluded from birds and manually infested with aphids suffered increased shoot damage and aphid outbreak, compared to those that were aphid-infested but open to birds. Bird exclusion led to increased abundances of pest insects other than aphids, and also of other arthropods considered as natural enemies or mutualists of pests. Arthropod abundance was lower in those orchards showing higher abundances of insectivorous birds during spring and summer. Multi-scaled farming management, involving both within-field practices and regional land use schemes, should be considered in order to promote win–win scenarios in cider apple orchards, whereby species-rich assemblages of insectivorous birds provide effective pest control service.

Getting More Power from Your Flowers: Multi-Functional Flower Strips Enhance Pollinators and Pest Control Agents in Apple Orchards.

Flower strips are commonly recommended to boost biodiversity and multiple ecosystem services (e.g., pollination and pest control) on farmland. However, significant knowledge gaps remain regards the extent to which they deliver on these aims. Here, we tested the efficacy of flower strips that targeted different subsets of beneficial arthropods (pollinators and natural enemies) and their ecosystem services in cider apple orchards. Treatments included mixes that specifically targeted: (1) pollinators (‘concealed-nectar plants’); (2) natural enemies (‘open-nectar plants’); or (3) both groups concurrently (i.e., ‘multi-functional’ mix). Flower strips were established in alleyways of four orchards and compared to control alleyways (no flowers). Pollinator (e.g., bees) and natural enemy (e.g., parasitoid wasps, predatory flies and beetles) visitation to flower strips, alongside measures of pest control (aphid colony densities, sentinel prey predation), and fruit production, were monitored in orchards over two consecutive growing seasons. Targeted flower strips attracted either pollinators or natural enemies, whereas mixed flower strips attracted both groups in similar abundance to targeted mixes. Natural enemy densities on apple trees were higher in plots containing open-nectar plants compared to other treatments, but effects were stronger for non-aphidophagous taxa. Predation of sentinel prey was enhanced in all flowering plots compared to controls but pest aphid densities and fruit yield were unaffected by flower strips. We conclude that ‘multi-functional’ flower strips that contain flowering plant species with opposing floral traits can provide nectar and pollen for both pollinators and natural enemies, but further work is required to understand their potential for improving pest control services and yield in cider apple orchards.

Impact of Agroecological Infrastructures on the Dynamics of Dysaphis plantaginea (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Its Natural Enemies in Apple Orchards in Northwestern France.

Apple orchard production is facing new environmental and societal challenges, resulting, in particular, in strong pressure to reduce pesticide use. Cider-apple production, for which the perfect visual aspect of fruits is not a marketability imperative, offers good opportunities to study production systems that are developing new agronomic strategies, which could be subsequently extended to all apple-production types. Agroecological infrastructures play an important role in providing shelter, food resources, or reproduction habitats to many arthropods. Consequently, setting-up agroecological infrastructures in the vicinity of or within orchards could increase natural enemy presence and thus improve the biological control of pests. In this study, we focused on Dysaphis plantaginea (Passerini), one of the major pests in apple orchards in Europe, which causes important economic production losses. During two years (2014 and 2015), we monitored the population dynamics of D. plantaginea, its natural enemies, and mutualistic ants in commercial production cider-apple orchards. The influences of the cider-apple cultivar, insecticide use, and distance to agroecological infrastructures (hedgerows and flower strips) were assessed. Our results suggest that flower strips favor an increase in natural enemy abundance in the vicinity of the orchards and could thus play an important role in the production system by improving the biological control of D. plantaginea.

Do sown flower strips boost wild pollinator abundance and pollination services in a spring-flowering crop? A case study from UK cider apple orchards

Flower strips are widely recommended as a tool to boost insect pollinators and yield in pollinator-dependent crops. Using UK cider apple orchards (Malus domestica Borkhausen) as a model system, we assessed whether flower strips increased pollination services in orchards. Pollinator communities (visual observation) and pollination services (fruit set) were assessed at increasing distance from surrounding semi-natural habitats (0–200m) in eight orchards. In four orchards, perennial flower strips had been established and bloomed in the year before the main experiment. In a separate experiment, insect visits to apple flowers were observed to investigate possible functional mechanisms underpinning pollinator efficacy.The visit rate of wild insects to apple flowers (non-Apis bees and flies), but not that of honeybees (Apis mellifera L.), increased by 40% in flower strip orchards compared to control orchards, particularly in areas close to semi-natural habitat (<100m). Wild insect visitation was also positively related to dandelion (Taraxacum species) abundance in orchards. Fruit set in orchards was positively related to wild insect richness, and andrenid bee (Andrena species) visitation, but neither richness nor andrenid bee visit rate responded positively to flower strips. Wild bees (andrenid bees and bumblebees (Bombus species)) contacted apple stigma (95 and 100% of visits) more often than honeybees (81%), but only bumblebees moved frequently between different tree rows, an important trait for transfer of compatible pollen in apples.Our results demonstrate that flower strips enhanced overall wild insect abundance but not pollination services in cider orchards. Positive effects of ground flora on wild insect abundance in orchards suggest that flower mixtures or orchard management could be optimised for andrenid bees, the single most important pollinator taxa, by increasing the availability of early-flowering plants in orchards. Equally, wild insect richness was highest in areas close to semi-natural habitats. Therefore, whilst flower strips can boost abundance of the existing species pool, only large scale preservation of (semi-) natural habitat will maintain pollinator diversity in apple orchards.

Candidate insect vectors of apple proliferation in Northwest Spain.

The apple proliferation (AP) disease is spread mostly by two psyllids. Each species plays a predominant role as AP vector that changes regionally. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify the AP vectors in each region where the disease is present. This research aimed at identifying the psyllid community in apple orchards from Asturias (NW Spain) and studying their possible role in AP transmission. Yellow sticky traps were used to monitor psyllid community in five cider-apple orchards during 2 years. 3678 individuals belonging to 22 species were identified. We confirmed the presence of the two known vectors, Cacopsyllapicta and Cacopsylla melanoneura, although they occurred in relatively low numbers (2.1 and 0.7 % of total catches, respectively). Most collected psyllids are not supposed to use apple as host, and their occurrence is likely favoured by landscape structure and an insect-friendly management. Phytoplasma detection was performed by squash-capture real-time PCR. The pathogen was detected in six species (Cacopsylla crataegi, Cacopsylla mali, Ctenarytaina spatulata,Ctenarytaina eucalypti and the two known AP vectors). Based on abundance and AP-detection rate C. picta is likely the main species spreading AP in our region. However, the low density of the known vectors does not match the widespread and high tree damage level observed in Asturias. The discovery of other four psyllid species carrying the phytoplasma reveals that our knowledge on the potential vectors is limited and that more research is clearly needed to unravel the role of the psyllid fauna in disease transmission in our orchards.

Role of floral resources in the conservation of pollinator communities in cider-apple orchards

Pollinators are generally assumed to be in decline but a proper habitat management could help to conserve pollination services. In 2012 we surveyed the groundcover in nine cider-apple orchards to (I) identify the floral and faunal communities present in the ground floor, (II) assess the attractiveness of the local spontaneous flowers to insects and (III) determine the role that the flower community may play for the conservation of the associated arthropods in general and of pollinators in particular. The apple orchards provided a continuous succession of floral resources in the groundcover with differences among orchards in the abundance, richness and diversity of flowers. Flowering plant species were visited by a wide variety of insects, mostly from the orders Hymenoptera (70%) and Diptera (25%). Wild bees accounted for 27% of hymenopterans and hoverflies for 30% of dipterans. Flowering plants differed in the number of taxa they attracted and in their attractiveness for particular insect groups and for insects as a whole. A total of 16,159 arthropods were collected from the groundcover, and 2064 individuals belonged to taxa involved in the pollination. Pollinators and arthropods (exemplified by hemipterans and coleopterans) differed between orchards and periods and were affected by the plant community. Plant species richness and the abundance of some plant species favored the presence of both pollinators and arthropod assemblages while flower abundance had only a marginal effect on those communities. Pollinators were also affected by plant diversity. Among-orchard differences in the plant community suggest that management recommendations must be site-specific to ensure the permanent availability of diverse floral resources for the arthropod community and for pollinators in particular. Therefore, a proper groundcover management could provide benefits for apple growers by improving pollination services.

Pest status of leafminers in cider-apples: The case of orchards in Asturias (NW Spain)

Microlepidopterous leafminers are a potential threat to Spanish cider-apple orchards. For pest management purposes it is important 1) to know the species composition, their incidence and their spatial distribution and 2) to have an efficient and accurate sampling method. To fill this gap of knowledge, the occurrence of leafminers was followed in four cider-apple orchards at Asturias (NW Spain) from summer to harvest during 2003–2005. A total of 5120 mines from six different leafminer species were identified. Phyllonorycter blancardella (Fabricius) mines were the most abundant, followed by those of Leucoptera scitella (Zeller). These two species accounted for more than half of the total mines counted (58%). The other four species detected were Stigmella malella (Stainton), Lyonetia clerkella (L.), Phyllonorycter corylifoliella (Hübner) and Callisto denticulella (Thunberg). Abundance and incidence of all leafminer species taken as a whole were similar among orchards, although year-to-year oscillations were recorded. Based on the low densities observed (maximum abundance for a given orchard and sampling date was 0.548 mines per leaf), leafminers could not be considered as a key pest in our apple orchards. Taylor’s coefficient b obtained for the different leafminer species were indicative of aggregated distributions of both infested leaves and mines within the tree. Enumerative and binomial sampling plans for apple leafminers were developed. Although binomial plans are usually faster than enumerative ones, the latter was recommended because of the lower size required for practical usage (the sampling of 20 leaves would be enough for estimating populations around the economic threshold of one mine per leaf).

Distribution of predatory phytoseiid mites in commercial cider apple orchards and unsprayed apple trees in the UK: Implications for biocontrol of phytophagous mites

A survey of predatory phytoseiid mites in commercial cider orchards over a five-year period showed that Typhlodromus pyri Scheuten was the most abundant species, but that Phytoseius macropilis (Banks) and Euseius finlandicus (Oudemans) were also common. The presence of these species may be a result of the different pesticide application regimes in cider compared with dessert apple orchards. In unsprayed apple trees the above three species were the most abundant, but Amblyseius andersoni (Chant), Paraseiulus soleiger (Ribaga) and Kampimodromus aberrans (Oudemans) were also locally abundant. The effect of the cooccurrence of these species on the biocontrol of phytophagous mites is discussed.

A brief review of the status of fireblight in UK1

Fireblight (due to Erwinia amylovora) has continued to spread northwards and westwards in UK. In SW England, the disease has been particularly severe in perry pear orchards, causing the loss of many thousands of mature trees, and in cider apple orchards. Cider apple trees are not rapidly killed but crop losses have been severe in some years. The disease has become established in the NW midland counties of England and also in Wales. Outbreaks have occurred as far north as Lancashire just above the administrative line which separates the affected area from the disease‐free (clear) area. Spread has occurred through infections in Crataegus hedges, especially along motorways, and also through movement of infected ornamental species. New legislation is envisaged which will redefine the clear area and increase the protection given.