A lifelong apple grower with deep family roots in the Newcastle area has been chosen as the winner of the 2025 UPL Golden Apple Award. The award was presented to David Gibson on February 18 at the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association banquet in Niagara Falls.

The Gibson family has been growing apples in the Newcastle area since the mid-1800s, and David and his twin brother joined the family apple business in the 1960s. Today, the Gibson family has 300 acres of modern plantings and David’s grandson Quinton is taking over day-to-day operations in the orchard.

“David has a strong sense of community and pride in the industry and his family’s apple growing legacy, and this shines through in his commitment to the betterment of apple production particularly with respect to pest management,” says Chris Hedges, chair of the Ontario Apple Growers. “We are honoured to have David as our Golden Apple Award winner this year.”

In 1975, when the first Integrated Pest Management (IPM) pilot program for apples was introduced in three apple growing areas of Ontario, David was one of the first few growers who took a chance on the new approach. He also agreed to become an IPM monitoring site with pest traps and a weather machine and has been involved with IPM ever since.

For decades, he’s been part of a community of apple growers in Durham Region who began their own shared IPM scouting service in the mid-1980s and has been instrumental in keeping growers involved in the program. He’s also opened his orchard to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness to carry out research on apple pests and diseases and is a strong long-time supporter of the Northumberland and Durham Apple Growers’ Association and its activities, including the annual Bev Ells Memorial Curling Bonspiel. 

“Community is an old-fashioned term, but David has contributed to our local apple grower community in so many ways. He has really been the glue that’s held us together over a very long time, and his sense of humour can always lighten a moment,” adds Cathy MacKay, an apple grower in David’s region and vice chair of the Ontario Apple Growers.

The UPL Golden Apple Award is presented annually to a recipient who has made outstanding contributions to the Ontario apple industry. The Ontario Apple Growers represents the province’s 200 commercial apple farmers. 

Source: Ontario Apple Growers February 19, 2025 news release