Michigan

Helping Michigan growers pick the best hard cider apples

Published

2 years ago

October 19, 2022

Helping Michigan growers pick the best hard cider apples

Michigan is an apple lover’s paradise, and Michigan State College researchers and Extension specialists are serving to growers throughout the state take advantage of their harvests. From apples, apple cider and arduous cider manufacturing, MSU gives data, schooling and assist to Michigan apple farmers and helps them take part in rising industries.

The state ranks third within the nation for apple manufacturing, with greater than 14.9 million apple timber masking 34,500 acres on 775 family-run farms, in response to the Michigan Apple Committee.

Gathering apples for the cider mill

A few of the commonest apple varieties grown in Michigan embrace Fuji, Gala, Golden Scrumptious and Pink Scrumptious, Honeycrisp, Jonathan and McIntosh.

When selecting an apple you’d wish to eat, you would possibly select a candy Honeycrisp, or if you’ll bake an apple pie, you would possibly choose a tart Granny Smith. For arduous cider makers, selecting the proper apple or mixture of apple varieties isn’t so easy. Much more difficult is looking for the proper mix of candy and bitter flavors to make their arduous apple cider stand out. Till now.

Researchers at MSU have compiled knowledge on greater than 800 apple varieties to create a reference chart for cider makers that helps them develop their ideally suited recipe. The grid reveals how totally different apple varieties are labeled based mostly on 4 high quality traits that make apples fascinating for arduous cider manufacturing: sweetness, acidity, pH and bitterness (complete phenolic content material).

“What began out as a easy survey of apple varieties grown in Michigan and New York changed into actively accumulating the entire knowledge that exists within the printed scientific literature about these traits to place them collectively in a helpful means,” says Joshua VanderWeide, an assistant professor within the School of Agriculture and Pure Assets and the Berry Crops Physiology Laboratory. “We’ve put collectively the most important database of fruit high quality traits for apples which can be vital to each growers and researchers.”

This analysis concerned a mixture of accumulating present knowledge from the printed literature and getting hands-on within the subject. For Christopher Gottschalk, who was a graduate pupil at MSU in the course of the analysis and is now an apple geneticist with the USDA’s Agricultural Analysis Service, that meant accumulating apples for testing.

“I might go to both orchards in Michigan or orchards in New York, and I might accumulate the fruit, ensuring we had been sampling it at its ideally suited time,” says Gottschalk. “We had been fascinated with studying whether or not an Otterson apple grown in Michigan tasted totally different than an Otterson apple grown in New York.”

Again on the labs (within the Division of Horticulture and at MSU’s vineyard on the horticulture farm), the apple samples had been pressed, and the juice was collected for biochemical testing to see how every apple selection ranked.

Source link

Click to comment

Michigan

Man dies after being pulled from Lake Michigan

Published

2 hours ago

July 27, 2024

Press Room

Man dies after being pulled from Lake Michigan

CHICAGO — A man has died after he was found unresponsive in Lake Michigan early Saturday morning, police said.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

The man, 36, was found near 31st Street Harbor around 4:30 a.m., according to Chicago police. Divers pulled him from the lake, and he was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition.

SEE ALSO: Search to resume for missing man after yacht sinks in Lake Michigan near 31st Street Harbor

In a separate incident on Friday, a yacht carrying 16 people capsized and sank in the same area. All but one of those people made it out of the water. A search continues for that missing person.

Details surrounding the incident are unclear, and the situation is under investigation.

Source: Sun-Times Media Wire – Copyright Chicago Sun-Times 2024.)

ABC7 contributed to this article.

Source link

Michigan

Michigan dies in motorcycle crash involving SUV

Published

9 hours ago

July 27, 2024

Press Room

Michigan dies in motorcycle crash involving SUV – CBS Detroit

Watch CBS News

A Michigan man has died after his motorcycle collided with an SUV on Friday in Ann Arbor.

Source link

Michigan

Michigan Football: How Semaj Morgan earned the number zero

Published

17 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Press Room

Michigan Football: How Semaj Morgan earned the number zero

One of the most intriguing players for the Wolverines heading into the 2024 season is sophomore wideout Semaj Morgan. During his freshman season, Morgan proved he could be a dangerous weapon with the ball in his hands. He was third among all wideouts in receptions (22) and receiving yards (204), and second in touchdown receptions (2). He added two more rushing touchdowns on the ground, and led the team in both kick return yards (186) and punt return yards (101),

Heading into his sophomore season, Morgan will have a bit of a different look when he takes the field this fall. Earlier this off-season, he announced that he was switching his number from 82 to number zero – a number that carries a ton of weight after U-M legend Mike Sainristil made it famous over the last two seasons. But making that switch wasn’t as easy as asking for it, it was something that had to be earned. Head coach Sherrone Moore elaborated on the number switch this week during Big Ten Media Days.

“He’s done an outstanding job of changing his body in a good way to maintain the speed,” Moore said. “Got a 4.0 this semester. So that was a big change to allow him to get the number zero, which he wouldn’t stop bugging me about. He’s done an outstanding job and excited about what he’s going to do this year.”

Semaj Morgan in the number zero jersey / Christopher Breiler

Along with putting in the work in the classroom, Morgan has also established himself as one of the hardest working players on the team. At 5-10, 176 pounds, he certainly isn’t the biggest target on the field. But as his head coach explains, Morgan plays much bigger than his physical size.

“Semaj is probably one of the best-practice players on the team,” Moore said. “I mean, he practices so hard that he probably loses about five to six pounds every practice and he’s got to gain it back. But the guy runs hard. And for being a guy that’s so little in stature, he plays like he’s 200 pounds… and he’ll tell you that too.”

After losing their two top receivers to the NFL Draft during the off-season, there’s no doubt that the Wolverines will need several of their younger wideouts to take a big step forward this fall. While there’s no shortage of candidates who could rise to the top, it seems like Morgan is best positioned to have an extremely productive year in 2024.

– Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI –

Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck credits Michigan in opening statement at Media Days

‘That’s pretty damn cool’: Lincoln Riley excited for USC-Michigan matchup in 2024

Michigan football’s Makari Paige talks Rod Moore’s injury, transfer DBs

Source link