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Humboldt Field Research Institute

Posted March 8, 1999

Improvements slated at Highmoor Farm

Several new research projects and upgraded facilities are part of a package of improvements designed to maintain Highmoor Farm in Monmouth as a critical facility for agricultural research by University of Maine scientists. According to Steve Reiling, director of the Maine Agricultural Center (MAC) in Orono, recent investments amount to a “long term commitment” to keeping the doors open and strengthening ties with the state's apple and small fruit industries.

The MAC was recently formed by the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station with the support of UMaine Cooperative Extension to help focus UMaine's agricultural research and Extension activities.

Since the Farm was established pursuant to a legislative act in 1909, researchers at Highmoor have tested thousands of new apple, strawberry, raspberry and vegetable varieties with potential benefits for Maine farmers. The Farm has also been the scene for pest management and Master Gardener training and other Extension workshops for the public.

In recent years, the farm's budget had been reduced as a result of serious budget problems at the University of Maine, but a commitment by the Experiment Station to full support of operating expenses and staff salaries underscores the importance of Highmoor to the network of Maine's research facilities.

“We're planting trees and replacing the boiler. Last year we bought a new tractor, and we're promoting Highmoor with our faculty as a good place to do research. The farm is close to our apple industry, and its location in western Maine is ideal for studying the performance of crops under conditions relevant to Maine farmers,” says Reiling.

According to Bruce Wiersma, dean of the UMaine College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture, “the recent increase in R & D funding has allowed us to bring Highmoor back to full parity with our other experimental farms. I am delighted that we were able to do this and thank everyone involved who has made these improved research budgets a reality.”

“Maine citizens come to Highmoor for programs that have real economic, environmental and social value,” says Lavon Bartel, director of Cooperative Extension. “Our staff are developing new projects, such as an effort to demonstrate natural resource management principles. This work is very important.”

According to James Schupp, a research faculty member and Cooperative Extension tree fruit specialist who is based at Highmoor, a new three-acre apple orchard will be planted this spring. It will feature McIntosh and Cortland varieties grafted to a newly developed hardy dwarf root stock known as Bud 9.

Schupp and other researchers at Highmoor have participated in the development and testing of the root stock which recently became commercially available. “We're really excited to get a chance to use this new root stock. It originated in Russia and has undergone a lot of testing in the U.S. It has exceptionally good hardiness. Since our apple growers are at the northern edge of where apples can be grown profitably, these new trees may be a great benefit to Maine.”

Ongoing research will also be maintained with local private orchards, says Schupp. Projects include development and testing of compost recipes using pommace, the waste product from apple cider presses. In cooperation with Chick Orchards of Monmouth, Schupp is testing the soil building and fertilizer potential of using compost made of pommace, leaves, chicken manure and a liming agent.

Recent test results have shown that the compost promotes growth of a high value but slow growing variety known as Macoun, a cross between McIntosh and Jersey Black. “Growers get good prices for Macouns, but they can be a difficult tree to grow,” Schupp says.

Schupp currently maintains experimental plots with about 30 new apple varieties. He works in cooperation with a national network designed to demonstrate the performance of new varieties across a range of environmental conditions. “Most of what we're concerned about here is field performance, yield, survival and tree size. It takes years to evaluate all the important characteristics of new varieties, but by cooperating with other research farms across the country, we can reduce that time substantially,” he says.

Those same benefits apply to Maine's growers of small fruit and vegetable crops. Schupp's colleague, David Handley, Cooperative Extension vegetable and small fruit specialist, has conducted trials at Highmoor with strawberries, raspberries and high bush blueberries. With a new $12,000 grant in state research funds administered by the Experiment Station, Handley and Jim Dill, Extension pest management specialist, will study the effectiveness of biological agents to control a persistent pest, the tarnished plant bug.

The pest causes strawberries and apples to be deformed and unmarketable. The new project expands on trials in which Handley has studied the natural resistance of new varieties.

In addition, Handley is continuing his tests of strawberry varieties with natural resistance to root rot caused by the red stele fungus, another common problem for Maine growers. “Breeding plants is always a gamble. We've tested over a thousand new varieties developed in Minnesota, New York, Nova Scotia and at the USDA research center in Beltsville, Maryland. Out of those only a few have real commercial potential in Maine, and the growers appreciate the work we do to identify those promising varieties. When we do surveys of what growers want, variety trials always make it in the top three,” says Handley.

“The ones we're testing now have been developed specifically for Maine soil and climate conditions. But we have to determine whether, in addition to disease and pest resistance, they have the performance and fruit qualities growers need. It doesn't do any good to have a resistant variety if it doesn't produce marketable fruit.”

Handley has published the results of his variety trials in a regular newsletter distributed to Maine growers as well as in conferences of the North American Strawberry Association and the Fruit Varieties Journal.

“Highmoor is an ideal place to do this work because the conditions here apply to a large area of Maine. York County growers can do a little more with their longer growing season, and we can't always make recommendations for Aroostook County growers. But for much of Maine, this is an ideal location,” Handley says.

Handley's strawberry trials have been conducted in close cooperation with Maine growers, in particular Ford Stevenson of Wayne and David Popp of Dresden. New efforts are being made to study varieties developed in British Columbia, Handley adds.

Handley has also developed a proposal to expand vegetable trials with sweet corn, pumpkins and tomatoes. Those crops can be big money-makers for Maine growers. Handley would like to apply his variety and disease resistance expertise to them as well.

In support of these research projects, a package of structural improvements is being planned for Highmoor under the guidance of John McCue, farm superintendent. “Funds from the Experiment Station will allow us to upgrade our water supply to enhance our ability to irrigate crops in experimental plantings. In 1998 a new tractor was purchased to allow us to maintain high density orchard plantings with very narrow row spacings. These high density orchards are the types of planting that Maine growers will need to consider for future plantings to enable them to compete in the world market,” says McCue

The heating boiler in the office complex will also be replaced. The current boiler is about 50 years old and requires constant attention. “A new, more efficient boiler will ensure uninterrupted heat for the office staff while we answer farmers phone calls, analyze the previous seasons data and prepare for the upcoming growing season.”

A reduction in heating oil use will also be realized. Plans include expansion and replacement of the irrigation system, a new tractor and a new boiler for the research labs and offices.

Staff members who contribute to the work at Highmoor include Sheri Koller, scientific technician, and Diane Prescott, Extension support staff. Koller works primarily on Schupp's research projects and assists Handley and McCue from time to time. Dion Olmstead and Jason Osborn are two new research technicians who are also working with McCue.

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