I the U.S,. the government itself has long had an organization of agricultural universities which provide expertise through extension offices to farmers. Expertise here for commercial growers is often also provided by the distributors of agricultural chemicals. Private consultants are harder to find but farmers in your area must have some knowledge of such services

You say you have good government contacts- there must be some part of the government that deals with agricultural issues that you can reach and there must be commercial fruit growers and other kinds of farmers you can talk to about how to get guidance.

I don't think headhunting on the internet for a one-time consultation is likely to be fruitful but you can certainly locate literature on all aspects of commercial fruit production.

A straight forward book, now out of print that I used when I started is Norman Childers', "Modern Fruit Science". You can probably find a copy if you search for it on-line.

Izzy, I suggest that you contact the major agricultural research universities, those which have specialities in pomology. They would be an excellent source of assistance for you, especially in terms of highly qualified and motivated professionals.

I'm a graduate of Va. Tech and minored in Pomology. I remember that the department was doing research all over the world with graduate students, graduates, and researchers clambering for foreign positions.

Research the top ten apple producing states. Then contact the agricultural research (land grant) universities in those states. Examples would be Va. Tech for Virginia, Cornell for NY. Then, narrow your search to the pomology or fruit production people. I would send letters to department heads as well as faculty.

You can have letters and emails sent out on Monday, if you are prepared on your end about exactly what you have to offer.

Honestly my reaction is that if you have to ask that question here you are gravely under prepared for this undertaking. If you really had all the contacts you need many of them would be experts in just what you are asking for or they'd know where to find help.

You not only need land but packing and possibly apple storage capability. You need experts in all those areas and it takes many years to develop infrastructure and techniques.

This is a minimum $10 million dollar undertaking with a breakeven point at least 10 years down the road. Both those estimates are probably way too low.

The place to look for help is within the commercial apple growing industry. You'll need growers, packers, and marketers. That isn't a university strength. There are upcoming, December, meetings in WA and MI. Go there and add to your contacts.

The first thing you need is a feasibility study.

This post was edited by fruitnut on Sun, Nov 3, 13 at 11:50

FN, aren't you speaking of the cost of a major production operation in the U. S. There are certainly many east coast growers with much less stake in their operations than 10 mil.

However, given his statement about global distribution I can see where you are coming from, but maybe he is young, optimistic and looking many years ahead.

I do think that the idea of getting into apples as a great business opportunity just because you have excellent contacts seems a little strange. There must be other business ventures where being well connected would be much more an asset.

Most of the big growers I read about in thy U. S. have a lifetime of experience in the business and a degree in agriculture- and they have a real love for growing fruit.

Harvestman:

I read all of Modern Fruit Science in the early 70s and could add more qualifications than most but I'm far from a professional fruit grower. This guy needs advice from real pros not a bunch of home growers. His operation would be competing with the most efficient growers from around the world.

Just the fact that he'd look for help here, no disrespect to anyone here, tells me he doesn't have a clue.

First off, thanks a lot everyone for your comments. I truly appreciate it.

FruitNut is right, I know nothing about this market, I know zero about agriculture.

Some more background info: I'm working directly with various Ministers in the government and the Mayors of some cities to help improve their economy. My role is to connect them to US investors in my network.

Again, I know basically nothing so I'm just trying to do some initial research to familiarize myself with the market. But I was told that this is a competitive advantage of the country, the climate is ideal for apple growing. Supposedly, when Yugoslavia was still around there was a huge apple orchard in Macedonia that supplied all of Yugoslavia and most of Europe with apples. Once Yugoslavia fell, so did this orchard. The land is still there and I believe some of the machinery (not sure what yet). They are looking to restart this to improve the economy and provide some new jobs in the local area.

I can work directly with their Ministry of Agriculture but from what I have heard from speaking to people, their agriculture industry is severely behind and unadvanced. It was recommended to bring in an expert from the outside to really evaluate and see what the possibilities are. There are already some apple farms where I can buy and resell apples but they don't grow apples the best way, they kind of just grow it with no real knowledge of best practices.

I was doing some basic research and reading reports online and came across this site. I thought I'd ask for input on where to go to learn more and get some initial ideas on what to look out for, etc. I'm just trying to facilitate economic activity in the area and this was one of the things mentioned as a competitive advantage.

Appreciate all the input you guys have provided. Thanks again

Again, contact the land grant research universities in the top ten apple states. You are bound to get some fruitful suggestions from those people. This kind of project has university outreach all over it.

Washington state and New York state are the top two.....Virginia, Michigan, Oregon, California, and I don't remember which of the other states rank.

I know of someone from the States who went to Guatemala to raise a few hundred thousand Meyer lemons....without knowing much about growing anything! He found the right people, the right experts, and is now in the export (of Meyer lemons) biz.

Yeah, the orchards in Prespa are the most advanced, but are not nearly as productive as they can be. They look like they were trying to emulate tall spindle planting, but the trees have no support system and have way too much vertical wood with poor training, and lots of space between trees but not enough in the aisles. I know they are exporting to Bosnia and want to break into areas besides former Yugo. The varieties are all older despite some patents running out on some great varieties like Honeycrisp and Pink Lady. They are probably hampered by a lack of refrigerated storage facilities, little controlled atmosphere storage, and expensive shipping.

That being said, I think you are the perfect man for the job and your knowledge and contacts are quite valuable for a venture such as this. I've sent you an email to the contact you list.