Dressel Farms harvests one hundred to two hundred trays of apples according to the day of the season, with containers weighing 800 pounds. But this year’s drought has reduced the harvest.
NEW PALTZ – When normal rains, however, covered the arid Hudson Valley last week, Tim Dressel watched the yellowish-green leaves of his apple trees get wet. He felt that the burned plants around him were overjoying. maybe I’m a horticultural idiot,” he said, adding, “It was a very bad summer.
Dressel is the great-grandson of Fred Dressel, who bought (and renamed) Dressel Farms in New Paltz in 1957, after serving as a foreman there for more than 25 years. of which are faithful to apples. Dressel Farms also grows and sells other culminations (peaches, strawberries, raspberries) as well as ice cream. The estate, adding a roadside stall, is run by 3 generations of Dressel. ” My grandfather is 86 years old and still comes to paint every day,” Dressel said.
The rain on the harvest of an orchard gives an infrequent moment of pause; Picking in the rain is more likely to bruise fruits, among other complications. Dressel, who wears many hats in the business of his circle of relatives, took advantage of the break to make a batch of strong cider for the farm tavern, mixing honey and crispy honey juice in a tank. The view from where he worked was an orchard where three-quarters of the apples are sunburned.
“Everything is small; the lack of water means small fruits,” Dressel said. “We irrigate as much as we can, but it’s an additional source, not number one. “
The apple harvest at Dressel Farms begins in mid-August with early ripening types, not the most popular. But any local vegetable garden wants anything on the shelves for sale and those guys are good at making cider.
“People need apple cider the first day they get to the garden,” Dressel said. For the third week of August, Ginger Golds is regularly ready, as is Premiere Honeycrisps, an early-growing, and more pastel, strain of perennial favorite. .
Dressel Farms has been a circle of relatives business since 1957, when Fred Dressel (far right, above) bought the farm. Here he is with his son, Rod Sr. , and grandson, Rod Jr. , who holds Fred’s great-grandson. Tim.
Weather permitting, Dressel Farms harvests one hundred to two hundred trays of apples a day in the season. One container weighs 800 pounds. Dressel himself does not choose; he and members of his circle of relatives are engaged in the rest of the agricultural work. His father coordinates what you want to collect, where and when. winter.
To remove apples from trees, Dressel Farms employs 20 people who meet six days a week; New York State requires a day of rest each and every seven day. “Our guys wouldn’t do it. They are here to make money, so they must choose each and every day,” Dressel said. About a dozen of its staff are employed throughout the year; some have been with them for 20 years and have families who also paint for Dressel Farms.
Dressel also employs transitional agricultural staff from mid-August to mid-October. These personnel come on H-2A visas, from Mexico. While the farm grid has mixed emotions about this government program, adding the overtime threshold, Dressel called it “the only important one for farms in this country to have that labor available. Otherwise, no one has it.
The H-2A visa program was never disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, although COVID passed through part of the Dressel Farms team in early 2021. “It was a big setback. The apples were not harvested on time. They have become too mature. We couldn’t choose fast enough. Dressel said this affected his backline.
Dressel Farm apples are sold on site, however, maximum sales are made wholesale through Hudson River fruit distributors in Milton. They don’t know where their apples end up, but some have gone to Stop and Shop and BJ, Dressel said. They also exported to countries such as Russia and Israel.
Exports involve more regulatory hurdles to overcome, so Dressel is not dissatisfied that it no longer exports. Agriculture is quite difficult: this year there are disorders with labor, costs and weather. Every year, Dressel wonders if they can continue, but says “a spinning wheel is hard to stop. “
Dressel said he saw the weather change noticeably from year to year, “not for the better,” adding, “All those things” once every hundred years “have happened several times. This extreme weather is concerning. “
The only positive point of an extremely dry summer is that it interrupted the mating process of pests, so this year fumigation on the farm was reduced. Dressel Farms implements integrated pest control, considered ecologically sensitive.
Inflation and high fuel costs mean Dressel is increasing its on-site retail costs by about 10% this year. But the circle of relatives does not have excessive wholesale costs. your ATM. Sometimes they even lose money. Large farms perform better in the wholesale market. Dressel is considered medium-sized for New York State and the Hudson Valley.
“We are fighting. We have the same number of apples this year, but the volume has been reduced by 25% because the length is smaller,” Dressel said. “It’s going to be a thin winter. “
For now, the farm is focused on harvesting, adding the homegrown season that will begin on Sept. 17. (Dressel Farms’ 2022 strawberry homegrown season was canceled due to crop loss. )
The activity of choosing your own began on Labor Day weekend, but the circle of relatives postponed it. “Who needs to put on flannel and pick apples when it’s 80 degrees?”October, the farm is invaded by visitors. (Locals, take note: to the crowds, choose early September when Honeycrisp and Gala are ripe and “the queue for donuts is non-existent. “)
Dressel doesn’t have a favorite apple; he discovered in his twenties that he was allergic. He liked Empire, but now thinks he would be a Fan of Snapdragons. While he’s thankful for the recent rain, as he considers choosing his own season, he hopes the fall may not be too rainy. Remember beyond the seasons when crowds were stuck in the muddy parking lot.
“Just pray that it rains at dusk and move on,” he said. “This is the way of the peasant. There is next year.