Ben Butler, third-generation head grower at Butler’s Orchard, and his brother Tyler, the general manager, are both UMD grads who trained under Chris and admire the program. Ben says, “Chris is trying to shift the apple-growing industry,” to find great-tasting, climate resilient apples that need less “thinning, pruning, and trellising,” all labor-intensive tasks that drive up costs.

The farm is bustling with pick-your-own customers, harvesting bushels of Crimson Crisp, EverCrisp, Gold Rush, Pink Lady, Fuji, and Antietam Blush for lunchboxes, pies, and applesauce. The family relies exclusively on these customers, and as they assess how to protect their farm from the changing climate, Ben says, “the diversity our customers enjoy is also our risk management,” noting that multiple crops and varieties buffers against frost, disease, and changing consumer demand. Selling direct to consumers also lets them avoid the pricing pressures other growers face.

Apples are notoriously prone to blight and pests—especially in the hot, humid conditions of the mid-Atlantic. Only a handful of Pennsylvania farms manage to grow organic apples that make it to local farmers’ markets. For larger retailers, the organic apples on their shelves almost always come from Washington and other states where drier conditions make organic production more feasible. That means for shoppers seeking truly local fruit, finding organic apples is rare. Apples also appear on the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list of produce most likely to carry pesticide residues. However, much of that pesticide load comes from post-harvest sprays—treatments that integrated pest management (IPM) growers, like Butler’s, don’t use. “Because we don’t store our apples, we don’t spray post-harvest,” explains Ben Butler. “It also means we can choose varieties for flavor and quality, not just shelf life.”

Thanks to research partnerships like the UMD-TAP, new apple varieties will continue to emerge that are better suited to a changing local climate. Meanwhile, Ben, and other local IPM farmers, have adopted growing methods that protect both consumers and farm workers. “Many growers, back in the day, used to spray every seven days,” he says. “Now, even with persistent pests, it’s much easier to use IPM practices to grow sustainably.”

Like many orchardists around the country, Ben is worried about the devastating decline in pollinator populations. A local conservation grant helped Butler’s turn over three acres of land to a pollinator habitat planted with native flowers, and they adopted no-till practices to protect ground-nesting bees throughout their property. They now use high-tech apps like those developed by Dr. Guido Schnabel at Clemson University to practice low-input farming by assessing when and how much to spray, and how to reduce water consumption.

Butler’s also collaborates with Dr. Mengjun Hu, a fruit pathologist at the University of Maryland, whose research at the farm helps develop smarter, more precise pest-control strategies. Using pheromone disruptors for fruit moths cuts pest populations dramatically, and targeted fireblight treatments prevent widespread tree loss, all helping to maintain a thriving, sustainable farm.