Feathered trees are profitable

This second-leaf Gala tree produced the equivalent of 300 bushels per acre. Does it pay to plant a more expensive, but highly feathered tree rather than a one-year graft, bench graft, or sleeping eye tree? Cornell University’s Dr. Terence Robinson, who has studied the economics of planting different types of trees, believes that most growers are better off planting a finished tree. While unfinished trees are half to one-third the cost of feathered trees, his analysis of the effect of tree price and its influence on profitability showed that the differences between the cost of using finished versus unfinished trees […]