Planting a new orchard requires a complex management strategy that involves many factors including cultivar, rootstock, planting density, training system, tree type, climate, and economic conditions that affect orchard profitability. To evaluate the relative importance of each factor, data from long-term field studies is required to analyze their impact on lifetime profitability. Here, we conducted two long-term field studies at two locations in New York State (Dressel farm in South-eastern and VandeWalle farm in Western New York State). The trials were planted in 2006 at a planting density of 3,262 tree/ha and the trees were trained as Tall Spindles. The aim of this study was to compare the impact of tree type (newly bench-grafted trees and large 2-year feathered trees) and rootstock (B.9, M.9, G.11, G.16, G.41) on long-term profitability of three apple cultivars (‘Fuji’, ‘Gala’, and ‘Honeycrisp’). There were important differences in profitability between cultivars, with a higher Net Present Value (NPV) for ‘Honeycrisp’, followed by ‘Gala’ and, finally, for ‘Fuji’. For all the cultivars, the NPV of the feathered trees was substantially higher compared to bench-grafted trees. Furthermore, the highest cumulative NPV's for ‘Honeycrisp’ were on B.9, G.11 and G.16, whereas with ‘Fuji’ the highest NPV's were on G.16, G.11 and M.9 and with ‘Gala’ the highest NPV's were on G.16, G.41 and M.9. The break-even year of a positive NPV for each rootstock, tree type, and cultivar, showed that the fastest investment pay offs were achieved with ‘Honeycrisp’, followed by ‘Gala’ and ‘Fuji’. Feathered trees showed a faster break-even year of a positive NPV compared to bench grafted trees in all cultivars. Our results showed that the key variables that influence orchard profitability were, in descending order, fruit price and yield, followed by discount rate, labor cost, and finally tree price and land cost.

种植新果园需要复杂的管理策略，涉及许多因素，包括品种、砧木、种植密度、培训系统、树种、气候和影响果园盈利能力的经济条件。为了评估每个因素的相对重要性，需要来自长期实地研究的数据来分析它们对终身盈利能力的影响。在这里，我们在纽约州的两个地点（东南部的 Dressel 农场和纽约州西部的 VandeWalle 农场）进行了两项长期实地研究。试验于 2006 年种植，种植密度为 3,262 棵树/公顷，树木被训练成高纺锤形。本研究的目的是比较树种（新长凳嫁接树和大型 2 年生羽化树）和砧木（B.9、M.9、G.11、G.16、G. 41) 三种苹果品种（'Fuji'、'Gala' 和 'Honeycrisp'）的长期盈利能力。品种之间的盈利能力存在重要差异，'Honeycrisp' 的净现值 (NPV) 较高，其次是 'Gala'，最后是 'Fuji'。对于所有品种，与台阶嫁接树相比，带羽毛树的 NPV 明显更高。此外，“Honeycrisp”的最高累积 NPV 在 B.9、G.11 和 G.16 上，而“Fuji”的最高 NPV 在 G.16、G.11 和 M.9 以及“Gala”上NPV 最高的是 G.16、G.41 和 M.9。每种砧木、树种和栽培品种的正 NPV 的盈亏平衡年份表明，'Honeycrisp' 实现了最快的投资回报，其次是 'Gala' 和 'Fuji'。与所有品种的台阶嫁接树相比，有羽毛的树表现出更快的收支平衡年份和正 NPV。我们的结果表明，影响果园盈利能力的关键变量按降序排列是水果价格和产量，其次是贴现率、劳动力成本，最后是树木价格和土地成本。