UNION GAP, Wash. (AP) -- On a crisp, sunny autumn day, two farm workers wound their way through 50 acres of young Jazz apple trees, deftly picking mature apples from a new orchard.

Thousands of acres of apples -- Fuji, Granny Smith, Braeburn, among the many varieties -- await the same delicate touch across central Washington, home to half the U.S. apple crop. But at Allan Bros. Fruit, one of the larger growers and packers in the Yakima Valley, what isn't being picked may be more telling.

Orchard manager Travis Allan calls it a "Red-free zone."

"Our goal was to be free of Red Delicious trees in spring 2006. We put one in dad's backyard to remember," he said with a smile, "but that one ended up getting pulled, too."

The shift highlights an upheaval in the apple world. The Red Delicious -- around which the industry was built -- has lost favor to newer varieties that farmers say give them more control over labor costs, quality, supply and, ultimately, price.

Though increasingly disdained as flavorless by consumers, Red Delicious has long been preferred among pickers because it is quick and easy to harvest. And growers like Reds for their durability; they can be kept in cold storage for months and distributed throughout the year.

Too many growers, it seems. In 1990, Red Delicious made up almost 70 percent of the U.S. crop. That oversupply, along with consumer demand for better tasting fruit, depressed prices.

"Everyone started looking for something else," said Dave Carlson, president of the Washington Apple Commission.

The result is more variety -- Jonagold, Braeburn, Fuji and Gala. Red Delicious will make up just 26 percent of the U.S. crop in 2006. Another effect of the demand are extensive breeding programs expanding the varietal list.

Allan Bros., which has grown and packaged tree fruit since the 1920s, planted two club varieties in 2003. Club varieties are apples whose growth is tightly regulated by the patent holder, thereby ensuring limited supply, higher quality and better prices. Companies pay for the right to grow them while a single sales group oversees their marketing.

Thirty growers in the United States have planted Jazz, a tart but sweet red club apple created in New Zealand by crossing Royal Gala and Braeburn varieties, with additional plantings in the United Kingdom, France and New Zealand. Acreage is fairly evenly split between the northern and southern hemispheres to ensure a supply of apples nearly year-round.

The developer of the variety, ENZA, formerly the New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board, aims to have about 6,800 acres producing Jazz apples by 2010. Allan Bros. has 84 acres of them, about 10 percent of its overall crop.

With crop diversity, growers can avoid investing everything investing all of their money in one variety that could be damaged by weather or pests, simply not produce one year, or as in the case of Red Delicious, lose favor with consumers. In planting new trees, they also can space rows and trellis branches for easier picking.

By planting varieties that ripen at different times, farmers may be able to use fewer workers but employ them longer., especially when growers have complained about a worker shortage amid immigration crackdowns.

Workers must be trained to recognize when new varieties are ripe, and some varieties, such as Fuji, require workers to clip the stems off as they pick them to prevent the apples from damaging one another.

Not all apples -- Honeycrisp, for example -- fare well in months of cold storage, but others, such as the new Cripps Pink variety, also known as Pink Lady, gain flavor in short-term storage, said Alan Taylor, marketing director for Pink Lady America. The variety, a Golden Delicious and Lady Williams cross with pink skin and white flesh, has a sweet-tart flavor.

Changes take time to reach the grocery aisles. A new tree needs about five years to reach its commercial production potential. Limited supplies of a new variety mean higher prices. Depending on size and grade, a box of Jazz apples can garner $48, while some Reds can go as low as $10 per box.

Not everyone will be willing to pay that price, and after all, Red Delicious remains the dominant crop.

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