GREEN BAY (NBC26) — The Oneida Nation Apple Orchard celebrated the beginning of construction on a new facility. The orchard continues to grow despite unreliable Wisconsin weather.
Members of the Oneida Nation gathered at the ONAO on Monday for a groundbreaking ceremony- celebrating the construction of a new retail store and production facility.
“Our current facility is 30 plus years old," Eric McLester, director of the Oneida Land, Environment, and Agriculture Division, said. "We produce thousands and thousands of pounds of apples every year, and this facility will help us increase our efficiency, increase our production.”
The current facility also faces the highway, making it dangerous for employees to cross the road and get into the parking lot. The new building is expected to be completed by next February.
"The most exciting thing is a brand new facility, and for me personally, it's going to be the safety of the staff," McLester said.
The apples grown at ONAO are part of a greater goal of food sovereignty.
"Oneida Nation has taken many steps over the years to improve access to food in our community," Oneida Nation Chairman Tehassi Hill, said. "Provide access to clean, healthy food, such as our apples here."
The ONAO turned to organic practices four years ago, making growing the apples more difficult.
“Because we have gone chemical free, our yields have gone down," McLester said. "We knew that that would happen, but we believe it’s worth it.”
McLester said their yields are slowly replenishing as they learn better techniques and the trees adjust.
However, going chemical-free isn't the only obstacle facing the orchard. Wisconsin's weather, particularly this year, also impacts the yield.
“We did have some frost, we did have some hail damage," McLester said. "We plan on having a good harvest, but not as good as we always hope for. But we will have apples.”
Despite the obstacles, the orchard continues to grow– it currently houses more than 4,000 trees, and they planted another 672 this year. McLester said they plan to start growing other fruits as well.
The orchard is managed by a team of less than 10 people, and it spreads across 34 acres.
Rami Aburomia is president of the Wisconsin Apple Growers Association, and he owns an apple orchard in Mount Horeb.
“We had pretty bad frost and freeze on our blossoms, so we’re at a pretty small fraction of our crop this year," he said.
Despite bad luck on his farm, Aburomia said there are still plenty of orchards across the state that saw little to no decrease in harvest due to the weather.
"If I talk to someone, and they're going to ask about that, I would just say check their local orchard that they go to and just see what they're doing, and follow them on social media- they should let you know how their crop is looking," he said.
Aburomia has been growing apples for decades, and he says it has gotten harder as the climate changes and things get more expensive. He says Wisconsin's unpredictable weather is an obstacle, but one that many growers have gotten used to.
“Trying to keep calm and not be stressed out and enjoying the good times," he said. "Apple growers are really focused on learning as much as they can... So on the whole of it, I think apples are being grown better than they were 20 years ago- better quality and more environmentally sustainable, but the weather has definitely been more of a challenge."
Aburomia says community support is critical in ensuring apple orchards continue to thrive.
"Support your local apple orchard, whether that means buying their apples or going to a 'you-pick' at your local orchard," he said.
