The apple breeding program at the University of Minnesota has been a long-standing tradition that has brought the University much-deserved attention across the country. As apple season reaches its peak this October and new varieties begin to hit the shelves, it is time to understand what apple breeding is all about.

What exactly is apple breeding and how does it work?

James Luby, a professor in the Horticultural Science Department and the director of apple breeding research at the University since 1982, described the process as “the dating and mating game for plants.”

“Basically, through hybridization, we create new varieties,” David Bedford, senior research fellow in apple breeding, said. “In the case of apples, we take the pollen from one tree and place it on the flower of another tree.”

This process produces fruit with seeds that are then planted again as the offspring of the original two hybridized trees. However, each seed produces a different tree with more or fewer traits from each of the parent trees.

Think of it like human offspring, Bedford said. “The seeds are the tickets to the future for us.”

When the seeds are planted and the trees grow, each tree is tested for pre-selected characteristics to see if any of the traits are good enough to be marketable, said Maria Hartnett, a fourth-year student in horticulture science and an intern in the apple breeding program.

With an abundance of characteristics possible, how do the breeders choose which are most important?

“For an apple variety to be popular, it has to provide a wonderful eating experience for people,” Luby said.

Texture and taste are the main two, but disease resistance and the ability to handle cold are other traits the program selects for, Hartnett said.

Bedford said there are about 20 different characteristics they evaluate apples for and about 5,000 trees are planted each year. Out of the 5,000 offspring trees, about 10 are selected to go through further testing.

After years of testing, the tree that produces the best-fit apples is chosen to be cloned through grafting, a process in which pieces of the desired tree are snipped and placed on another tree’s root system to grow repeatedly in nurseries for future production of the new apple, Luby said.

Luby said apple breeding at the University started in 1878 but was off and on again until 1908 when it moved to its current location in the Horticultural Research Center.

From 1908 to today, the University has introduced 28 apple varieties, Bedford said.

One example, the Haralson, was introduced 100 years ago, according to Minnesota Hardy.

“Haralson was the number one apple in the state for 70-80 years,” Bedford said. “It was hearty and lived through the winter … it was the apple of its time.”

Honeycrisp takes the lead

“Although the Haralson was a Minnesota favorite, the Honeycrisp put our program on the map internationally. It was a big move forward for us as a program and for the consumer,” Bedford said. “I always say there are two categories for the consumer: before Honeycrisp and after Honeycrisp.”

Honeycrisp was a huge advance in crunchiness and juiciness, Luby said. It is now the third most-grown apple in the U.S.

“Once we found Honeycrisp it became the benchmark for what an apple should be,” Bedford said.

The recent push to combine horticultural sciences, agronomy and plant pathology into a single department could result in the apple breeding program changing. Both apple breeders and farmers are hopeful the change in the department will not impact their breeding program.

“Breeding is just trial and error, so being able to take the time to do that is really important,” Hartnett said. “Having the patience and trusting that what you’re breeding could be something potentially beneficial to the market is also needed.”

Bill Hein, a local apple farmer and owner of Straight River Farms in Faribault, Minnesota, has been growing only Minnesota apple varieties for 20 years.

“I think the breeding program has been important for apple development and the University,” Hein said. “I mean, there are Honeycrisp planted all over the world.”

Although the program is currently known for its success with Honeycrisp, the new varieties of apples produced could combine Honeycrisp traits with other characteristics for the consumer.

A new variety, a Triumph

The Triumph is a cross of Honeycrisp with Liberty from Cornell University, which produces a juicy, dense and firm apple with a tarter flavor than Honeycrisp, Luby said.

The Triumph will be a great option for those wanting to grow apples organically, Luby said.

“Its special trait is its resistance to the most common disease that apple growers see, apple scab, which is the most common reason apple growers spray trees,” Bedford said.

Bedford said the Triumph was released in 2020 to nurseries, but it could take a few years for the apple to hit the market in a significant way because it takes several years for trees to grow apples.

There will be a new apple released in spring 2023, but Bedford could not say much about it except that it has a “Honeycrisp texture with almost a fruity tropical flavor” and that it is “a beautiful red apple.”

Favorite apples of apple breeders, growers and caretakers

“I like SweeTango, it’s got a unique sweet sweetness and it stays firm,” Hein said.

Luby agreed, saying SweeTango is his favorite due to the flavor.

Hartnett said that although Honeycrisp is a classic, SnowSweet is her favorite with its crispiness and freshness.

“Honeycrisp was the original and is still the standard for texture. I think SweeTango is my favorite flavor,” Bedford said. “It’s a little more intense than the other ones, and I have to say First Kiss is my favorite for juiciness.”

As apple season closes, it is time to run to the farmers market or the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s Apple House to grab some Minnesota apples and keep an eye out for the Triumph.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the proper mode to submit feedback. 

Due to renovations at the usual graduation venue, commencement for the entirety of the class of 2023 will be combined into a singular event held at Huntington Bank Stadium.

The University of Minnesota college deans released emails Monday stating the 3M Arena at Mariucci is planned to be under renovation during the 2023 commencement season and limited capacity resulted in joining several colleges for a conjoined celebration. 

Additionally, due to the large number of graduates, approximately 6,600 undergraduate students and 1,900 masters and doctoral students, the celebration would not include “individual students walking across the stage to have their name announced, receive a diploma or be hooded,” according to the CFANS email from dean Brian Buhr. 

The ceremonies are to take place on May 12, 2023 for graduate and doctoral students and May 13 for undergraduate students. 

Anyone can submit feedback about the announcement to commencement@umn.edu.

University of Minnesota students and faculty from the Food, Science and Nutrition Department have been recently discussing the food desert on campus and reviewing current University programs to address food insecurity and provide recommendations for the future.

A food desert is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as a low-income area where a significant number of the population is one mile or more from a supermarket or large grocery store. According to these specifications, the University campuses and the outlying neighborhoods, such as Como and Marcy-Holmes, are considered food deserts.

The food desert on campus perpetuates food insecurity and demonstrates the University’s commitment to money over student health, said Maya Ezekiel, a member of Boynton Health’s Student Nutrition Advocacy Collaborative (SNAC) and a nutrition major.

Boynton Health attempts to address food insecurity on campus with the Nutritious U food pantry, a mobile food shelf, and student Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit support. Additionally, the Mobile Market is a grocery store within a bus located by Coffman Union that offers affordable foods for purchase and is returning to campus on Oct. 17.

Nutritious U recognizes food insecurity is both a financial and accessibility issue, said Karin Onarheim, a Nutritious U advisor and Boynton Health promotion specialist. Emergency programs to support students now and the preventive programs provided will offer a variety of solutions to student food insecurity, Onarheim said.

Despite the programs offered through Boynton, some students feel as though the efforts are not enough.

“Nutritious U is an emergency program only offered at the end of the month, I need to eat every day,” Ezekiel said.

Ezekiel said she thinks the University can take action to decrease food insecurity on campus and replenish the food desert by building grocery stores, incorporating free bus trips to local food sources and creating food accessibility education for all students.

“[Nutritious U] didn’t seem like they were passionate about trying to address these issues of food security with the students,” Jason Castillo, a fourth-year student majoring in food science and nutrition (FSN), said.

To further address food insecurity concerns on campus, four students in FSN — Castillo, Maddy Dunski, Scott Hoang and Kashie Kong — took the initiative in spring 2022 to lay the foundation for a campus grocery store: Goldy’s Grocery.

Despite their best efforts, the project was unable to be funded and the store never opened.

“The biggest issue was working with the University and trying to get them to see that having a grocery store was a benefit and a responsibility for the University to do,” Castillo said. “We have the infrastructure to do something like a grocery store and we just don’t take the opportunity to do it, and I think it really speaks to where the values of the University are.”

A recent development in food accessibility came with the University’s decision to approve the Universal Transit Pass.

“I think the Universal Transit Pass is a huge win,” Castillo said. “That does genuinely increase access to students because now they have transportation to grocery stores around the area that are affordable.”

Still, some students and professors said they think more needs to be done.

“Ultimately, we thought nutritious food is a basic human right that is not being met here on the UMN campus,” said Hoang

The University is placed in the middle of Minneapolis. The city is known for being home to many Fortune 500 companies, like General Mills, that could help lessen food insecurity on campus, said FSN Department associate professor Leonard Marquart.

“Whether it’s a store, a different way to provide food service or students becoming armed in different ways to prepare food on their own … there are plenty of ways to address [food insecurity],” Marquart said. “There needs to be a concerted effort by administration, faculty and interested parties relative to the University.”

Marquart said he thinks another solution is to create a link that connects student views on food access and providing food to campus decision-makers.

For example, starting a club, having a student advisor or holding active participation events in which administrators and faculty would face the same experiences as students would in regard to accessing food.

“If you don’t have experiences that allow you to have the empathy and compassion to identify with students in a way that allows administration to make the right decisions, how can we possibly operate as a University in the 21st century,” Marquart said. “As seriously as we take academics, we need to take into consideration the welfare of students.”

The University of Minnesota’s first Native American regent, Tadd Johnson, must decide which issues to prioritize as he begins his temporary term on the Board of Regents this fall.

The Board inducted Johnson during their September meeting, however, he will not serve a full six-year term. Johnson is filling the vacancy created by the resignation of David McMillan, who stepped down to become interim chancellor of University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD). With only six months guaranteed on the Board, Johnson said he wants to be a voice for the Native American community while also demonstrating his capabilities in hopes of reelection in February.

Multiple people coming together to advocate for Native American representation resulted in the new regent receiving the position, according to Johnson.

Since the University’s establishment in 1851, there had never been a Native American regent.

“I saw how important the Board of Regents were in policy making and I thought, ‘That’s a place where a Native American should be,’” Johnson said.

Johnson, an enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, attended the University’s Law School. He previously served the University as director of graduate studies in the American Indian Studies Department and as a full professor at UMD.

“UMD is thrilled to see our friend, former colleague and professor emeritus Tadd Johnson join the Board of Regents,” UMD Public Relations Officer Lynne Williams said in an email to the Minnesota Daily. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience across higher education and in tribal relations.”

More recently, Johnson was invited to join the Twin Cities campus as senior director of American Indian Tribal Nations Relations by University President Joan Gabel in 2019 before being appointed as Regent.

“[The University is] deeply committed to addressing our complicated history with Minnesota’s 11 sovereign nations,” Gabel said in an interview with the Minnesota Daily on Tuesday. “Regent Johnson’s leadership … positions him to be a very effective member of the overall governance structure of the institution.”

While a professor, Johnson helped to establish the Towards Recognition and University-Tribal Healing (TRUTH) Project, which seeks to improve relations between the University and Minnesota’s Tribal Nations.

“I trust he will shape and guide the University with tribes and Native communities in mind during his tenure as Regent,” Misty Blue, project coordinator for the TRUTH Project, said in an email to the Minnesota Daily.

Johnson said he wants to address the University’s responsibility to Native American communities as a land-grant institution because of how much the 11 tribes contributed to the University’s development.

“That should not be forgotten, that’s got to be remembered on a daily basis,” Johnson said.

Johnson also discussed further education for University faculty, staff and students on Native American history and tribal affairs.

“I have trained more state employees than University employees, professors or staff combined,” Johnson said. “I feel like that is my purpose, to educate the non-Indian population on Native Americans.”

Johnson also said he wants to create a tribal law program in the Humphrey School of Public Affairs to serve the Native American community and provide education to the non-Indigenous population.

Although there are many aspects he seeks to improve, Johnson said he feels Gabel takes his ideas very seriously and the University is moving in the right direction toward Native American inclusion. According to him, Gabel has taken steps to add Native American voices to her cabinet with the addition of Karen Diver as Senior Advisor to the President on Native American Affairs and began the University’s first regular tribal consultations with Johnson’s help.

While working on these topics, Johnson must also campaign to keep his new role as Regent.

“Next February is really the big test as to whether or not I get to keep this [position],” Johnson said. “This appointment, if it is all I get, is the great honor of my lifetime.”