Fruit Growers News

BelleHarvest’s Success Depends on Growers’ Success

Historically, apple growers have purchased trees based on what nurseries have to sell. Sometimes those purchases are not in sync with market demand, meaning growers do not always reap the highest potential benefits. But employees at BelleHarvest Sales in Belding, Mich., have provided growers with a suggested variety mix based on current and anticipated future market demand. “So if the market is calling for more Galas, we want our growers to already have put more in the ground,” said Mike Rothwell, president of BelleHarvest. “We attempted to put in front of grower producer groups an ideal variety mix, which will always be an evolving equation.” Marketers at BelleHarvest ultimately have to sell the apples, and their success is tied to the growers’ success. Therefore, BelleHarvest wants to market the apples in highest demand. “We’re not just looking at today’s demand, but we’re also looking five to…  » Read more

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Couple Trades in Teaching for Farming

Two Minnesota growers’ journey into farming began more than 32 years ago in the Dominican Republic. Charlie and Carol Johnson were teaching at a school in that country when a group of Texas A&M University students arrived to educate local residents on how to farm. “The students convinced us to start a small farm when we returned to the United States,” Charlie said. And the Johnsons did just that. Now they grow pumpkins, apples, raspberries squash, ornamental corn, gourds and fall mums on 65 acres in Hastings, Minn. Charlie said the farm’s u-pick pumpkins are its largest crop and biggest draw. The Johnsons’ produce is sold at their farm market, the St. Paul’s Farmers’ Market and to a local grocery store. Charlie said about 500 visitors stop at the farm on an average busy day. He said 75 percent of those visitors are repeat customers. “We’re located near a…  » Read more

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Fruit Industry Has Fresh Reason for Hope

Trade show season always is exciting because you get the entire industry together to talk about the past growing season and the possibilities of the future. One of the most upbeat trade shows I’ve attended in the past 12 years as publisher was this year’s Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market EXPO held Dec. 7-9 in Grand Rapids, Mich. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Great Lakes fruit and vegetable industries hitting a high note on the same year. The optimism was inspiring and uplifting. There are many positives out there right now including high gas prices, trucking shortages, boom of the fresh-cut industry and demand for regional produce. Talk of the Show One grower I talked to told me he hoped gas would hit $5 a gallon. At first I thought he was crazy, but then he went on to explain that as gas…  » Read more

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PDAs Add Efficiency to Farm Operations

A Palm Pilot can be an efficient and dependable tool to keep track of picking records, said a Michigan grower. Gary Bardenhagen from Lake Leelanau, Mich., has been using Palm Pilots to keep track of picking records for four years. Bardenhagen hires about 50 laborers to harvest his 15 acres of strawberries, 25 acres of sweet cherries, 20 acres of tart cherries and 5 acres of Balaton cherries. For a number of years, he used to issue tickets to his workers to keep track of picking records. He said when a worker brought in a pail of fruit he would give that worker a ticket. “At the end of the day it would take us one to one and a half hours to count all those tickets,” Bardenhagen said. To eliminate that counting time, Bardenhagen switched over to using a punch card system for a few years,…  » Read more

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