McIntosh apples out in N.S., Honeycrisp in

Farmers in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley are planning to scale back on a traditional Canadian apple in exchange for a newer, more lucrative American variety.

Waldo Walsh, president of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers' Association, says old varieties like the McIntosh have fallen out of favour. The McIntosh apples, first developed in Ontario from a single tree in the early 1800s, are often sold at cost.

Walsh and other producers in the province say they'll rip out 10 per cent of their orchards and replace them with a variety called Honeycrisp, which Walsh says could earn four times as much as the McIntosh.

The Honeycrisp is a cross between a Macoun and a Honeygold. It was developed at the University of Minnesota and grows well in colder climates. The university's Horticultural Science department describes the apple as "explosively crisp."

Nova Scotia growers have been shipping Honeycrisp into the U.S. for years.

"The reports we're getting back from the people we're dealing with down there is that ours are superior compared with the other ones they can buy on the market," said Walsh.

Walsh says the replanting operation will take five years, at a cost of around $5 million. He hopes the province will kick in about one-quarter of the money.