Fruit Growers News

Ag labor housing

In May, Assistant Editor Derrek Sigler and I grabbed a video camera and visited Scott Lewis, who runs Lewis Orchard in New Era, Mich., and is the current chairman of the Michigan Apple Committee. Lewis showed us the housing he provides for his migrant workers, and I interviewed him and a couple other people on camera. Agricultural labor housing has been getting a bad rap lately, especially in Michigan. A group called the Michigan Civil Rights Commission released a report in March that claimed, among other things, that farm workers in the state were forced to live in substandard housing. The report caused quite a stir in the media and put farmers - especially fruit and vegetable growers, who rely on migrant labor - on the defensive. The first video we shot is an interview with Lewis, who gives the other side of the story.…  » Read more

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Michigan blueberry farm stays ‘True Blue’

True Blue Farms, based in southwest Michigan, harvests 150 acres of blueberries in eight locations. Photos: True Blue Farms By Matt Milkovich, Managing Editor Shelly and Dennis Hartmann have a hand in just about every segment of Michigan's blueberry industry. If that's not enough to back up Shelly's claim that they're entrepreneurs, their appearance in the book "Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur's Soul" should do it. Shelly married Dennis, a third-generation blueberry grower, in 1990. Their farm, True Blue Farms in southwest Michigan, had about 10 acres at the time. They were part-time farmers then, who both worked other jobs. The couple started buying other farms, however, until growing blueberries became a full-time endeavor. They now own eight blueberry farms, 150 acres total, in Van Buren and Allegan counties, the heart of Michigan's blueberry industry. True Blue Farms is now one of the largest blueberry…  » Read more

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New York state still fighting plum pox

New York state field survey crews place collected leaves directly into a cooler. Leaves are kept chilled from the time they are collected in the field to the time they are tested in the lab in order to keep the samples viable. Photos: New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets New York state is commencing its largest survey to combat plum pox virus, a serious plant virus that infects stone fruit trees, reducing fruit yields and disfiguring fruit to the point that it becomes unmarketable. New York is the only remaining state in the nation with plum pox, according to a press release from the state agriculture department. "We are fortunate to be able to utilize $1.3 million in federal funding to ramp up our surveillance efforts and initiate the largest, most aggressive survey to date to knock this virus out of our orchards,…  » Read more

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Variable Rate Irrigation provides precision application

VRI can be mapped out to provide the right amount of water to each section of a field. Photo: Valley Irrigation By Derrek Sigler, Assistant Editor Valley Irrigation entered into an agreement with Computronics Holdings Ltd. for use of the patented Farmscan Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) technology. This agreement allows for the development and distribution of VRI controls through more than 460 dealers worldwide. Combining Valley technology with Farmscan technology could be the next progression in mechanized irrigation, said Jake LaRue, Valley product manager. Pivot irrigation allows growers to control how much water is applied to a field. The combined technology allows control of not only how much water is applied, but also fertilizer and other crop management products for areas down to 1 square meter in size, according to Valley. The "how" part of this can be explained by looking at the VRI controls.…  » Read more

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