Assessing the Production Scale and Research and Extension Needs of U.S. Hard Cider Producers

At CiderCON 2013 and 2014, we assessed the scale of current and projected production, as well as the research and Extension needs of cider apple growers and cider makers. Our findings show that cider producers are diverse in terms of geographic location, scale of operation, and experience. These stakeholders reported a great need for technical assistance from Extension professionals and were interested in having information delivered in a wide range of different platforms. We also found audience response devices to be effective at quickly gathering and analyzing data from a large number of participants