TURNER – In the past six years, Cooper Brothers apple farm has bought or leased land from five other apple orchards and grown to 800 acres on which it has apple trees.

Apple farms in Maine are adapting to a changing business climate to remain competitive with apple growers in Washington state, Chile, New Zealand and China. For Cooper Brothers, the strategy includes growing bigger and aggressively seeking out new markets.

Jason Cooper said the family’s operations covered only 125 acres when he came home from college. The farm grew in increments by buying and leasing land from small growers who went out of business.

The business has expanded because the family has been aggressive in finding new markets for its apples, he said. It expects soon to be selling to markets in Cuba, where Cooper traveled in December with a state delegation sent to negotiate a trade agreement for Maine agricultural products.

“There’s always going to be competition from outside markets, but the marketplace is open to everyone,” Cooper said. “It’s just a matter of going out and finding them.”

Deanne Herman of the state Department of Agriculture said apples are no longer just locally grown and eaten, but rather have become a global commodity.

“We’re competing with Washington state and China and New Zealand, and that wasn’t true in the heyday of apple farms in Maine when you could be a grower and ship to Boston,” Herman said. “In order to compete on a commodity market, you have to be really big. It isn’t practical anymore to do wholesaling because [apple farms in Maine] don’t grow enough.”

Back in 1940, there were more than 1,000 apple farms in Kennebec County and 730 more in Androscoggin County. By 2002, there were just 38 apple farms between the two counties.

While Cooper Brothers and some other orchards are getting bigger, others are shrinking.

Ricker Hill Orchard in Turner grew from 210 acres to 850 acres in the 1980s and 1990s as Harry Ricker bought out smaller farms. But Ricker is back down to 350 acres, saying he has found it hard to compete in the global market.

“We’ve either pulled the apple trees out or sold off land for house lots,” Ricker said. “Business has been lousy, and we’re just trying to pay our bills. It’s better than going bankrupt.”