Fruit Growers News

Apple harvester represents a landmark change in technology

Phil Brown, owner of Phil Brown Welding, an orchard implement company in Conklin, Mich., recently demonstrated the latest version of his apple-harvesting machine to growers in Michigan and Washington state. The core concept of the machine is to eliminate extra labor from the harvesting process. The idea is that a worker picks apples from either scaffolding or walking alongside the machine, then places the apples into tubes where air pulls them into a bin. The trick, according to Brown, is to get the apple to the bin without bruising it. That is where Phil Schwallier, a Michigan State University Extension educator, joined the project. Schwallier ran bruising trials on the newest machine. “We ran trials on McIntosh, a very soft variety, for bruising and counted every scuff,” he said. “The average was 13 percent bruising or scuffs. Each apple would still pass U.S. extra fancy…  » Read more

---

New hort president: Growers rely on Extension

For Ed Robinette, this has been a pretty good year. His family business, Robinette’s Apple Haus & Winery, celebrated 100 years of being a west Michigan fruit grower. Long-term success takes leadership, and the growing community in his state has taken notice of Robinette’s leadership skills. He is the president of the Michigan Cider Maker’s Guild, and the incoming president of the Michigan State Horticultural Society (MSHS). When Robinette begins his term as president of MSHS in 2012, his goals will be quite clear. With legislative cutbacks forcing changes in Extension and other services Michigan growers have come to rely on, he wants to make sure MSHS members know what’s going on. “We rely on the research that comes from Extension,” he said. “Will that information be relayed to the growers? How so? My goal is to make for better communication between Extension and the…  » Read more

---

The Tangler makes mating disruption quick

The Tangler, an invention of Brett and Chandra Bunker, owners of Ridge Quest in Kent City, Mich., might just change how growers go about dispersing scent traps for mating disruption of codling moth – or mating disruption of any other pests. Having worked in construction, Brett has always been good with his hands and at coming up with solutions to problems. That is why, when he first looked mating disruption of codling moth, he got to thinking that there had to be a better way of doing things. The Tangler is a patented design that allows scent traps to be hung in fruit trees in a fraction of the time it normally takes, and with less workers. At the core of the system is a gun that runs off compressed air. “The trigger system and the basics of the gun are from a paint ball…  » Read more

---

New varieties impact the tree fruit industries

New varieties have had an impact on how the tree fruit industries operate. While new cultivars have had an effect on cherry, peach and other tree fruit production, new apple varieties have revolutionized that industry. According to the University of Illinois, there are more than 100 apple varieties grown commercially in the United States. Historically, Red Delicious has been and remains the No. 1 variety grown, by total acreage. If you went to a store 50 years ago and bought an apple, it was most likely that variety. During the last 50 years, however, new varieties came along to grab a share of the market space and, in the process, change how we consume apples, said Jim Luby, the director of the University of Minnesota Apple Breeding Program. Green apples? Granny Smith is one of, if not the most, important varieties to come along in…  » Read more

---

Peach grower teaches customers with posters

When Tom Davenport first courted the ethnic market for his u-pick peach operation, he didn’t realize there would be a huge gap in what he expected from customers and what they expected from the u-pick experience. After a bumpy start, however, improved communication has resulted in a thriving customer base made up of immigrants from a number of countries. Davenport and his son, Matthew, own Hollin Farm in Delaplane, Va. “We’re part of a group of four orchards in six miles that we call the ‘Virginia Peach Way,’” Davenport said. “There’s synergy among us, so if one orchard is out of something they send the customer to another orchard.” In the Washington, D.C., area where Hollin Farm is located, the three main immigrant groups are Indian, Chinese and Hispanic. Over the past 10 years, an increasing number of customers within all of these groups have…  » Read more

---

Litigants settle SweeTango dispute

The parties in the SweeTango dispute have agreed to settle their legal differences. On Sept. 20, Dennis Courtier, owner of Pepin Heights Orchards, Lake City, Minn., said the remaining legal claims against his orchard and the University of Minnesota would be dismissed with prejudice, meaning the case would never again see a courtroom. The settlement was the result of a Feb. 4 ruling by Judge Lloyd Zimmerman of Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District. In that ruling, Zimmerman dismissed most of the claims that were filed against Pepin Heights and the University of Minnesota in June 2010, when the orchard and land-grant institution were sued by more than a dozen Minnesota apple growers. The plaintiffs sued over access to the SweeTango apple – a much-hyped variety released a few years ago by the University of Minnesota’s breeding program. According to the lawsuit, the university granted Pepin Heights…  » Read more

---

Jawor Bros. opens new blueberry facility

After several years of planning, the new processing facility for Jawor Bros. Blueberries Inc. opened in Ravenna, Mich., July 8. Not only are they moving their own berries through the new place, they are moving quite a few other growers’ crops as well. “We had grown out of our old place,” said Mike Jawor. “Our co-op, MBG, had talked to us about building a place big enough that they could lease a portion of the building to move other growers’ berries through, too. We have at least 25 to 30 other growers shipping fruit through here.” The Jawor Bros., Mike and Jeff, have been farming since 1962, when their dad Carl started with 25 acres near Bridgeton, Mich. In 1992, Jeff joined the family business and Mike came on full-time in 1995. They currently farm 600 acres between Nunica and Ludington, with the bulk of…  » Read more

---

Orchard makes organic apples work in Britain

The demand for organic apples is fairly high in the United Kingdom – higher, in fact, than native growers can supply. Only about a tenth of the organic apples consumed in the country were actually grown in the country, said Jerry Cross, an entomologist and professor at East Malling Research (EMR), East Malling, England. “We don’t grow enough organic apples,” Cross said. “It’s a very small industry.” There might be a dozen growers in the country who actually make a living producing organic apples, he said. In late July, Cross showed visitors from the International Fruit Tree Association (IFTA) one of EMR’s organic apple orchards, which were planted a few years ago – not just as an experiment, but as a commercial venture. So far, yields have been low and weed control difficult, he said. Later in the tour, however, the IFTA group got to…  » Read more

---

New varieties, consumer demand shaping tree fruit trends

The demand for more and better fruit from consumers and the vast amount of new varieties are currently driving the tree fruit industry. Higher densities High-density systems and fruit trees on dwarfing rootstock have to be the most important trends in production – specifically the M.9 rootstock and its variants, said Pete Van Well, a nursery owner from Wenatchee, Wash. Where orchardists used to plant a few hundred trees per acre, they now plant thousands of trees per acre. Thanks to dwarfing rootstocks, growers have several alternatives when it comes to planting and managing their orchards – and not just in apples, he said. Cherries, pears and other tree fruit varieties are all switching to the benefits of high density. High-density systems can produce more and better fruit with the same amount of inputs or less, Van Well said. Variety is the spice of life…  » Read more

---

BMSB and SWD continue to worry growers

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) and Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) have packed a serious one-two punch to the fruit industry recently, and as they continue to spread, so do fears that there is nothing that can stop them. Both insects are native to Asia and managed to find their way to North America via shipping containers and other import vessels. At first, SWD was limited to Florida and parts of the West Coast, but it spread quickly. BMSB, being an adept hitchhiker, found a home in the Mid-Atlantic region and quickly spread out from there. BMSB In 1999, a BMSB specimen was found in a Rutgers University trap about 30 miles east of Allentown, Pa., in Milford, N.J. Since that time, specimens have been identified in at least 36 states, primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region but with additional populations in Oregon and southern California. Midwestern…  » Read more

---

MSU studying high-density tart cherries

The tart cherry orchard of the future may still be a few years away, but Michigan State University (MSU) researchers have moved a few steps closer to growing high-density tart cherries. In fruit-growing regions around the world, horticultural innovations are rapidly impacting cherry industries and orchards. Namely, new dwarfing rootstocks have facilitated high-density sweet cherry orchards by instigating earlier initial and peak production than trees on standard rootstocks. These more intensive orchards also impact the efficiency of production, improve fruit quality and are harvested more easily. With the success of high-density sweet cherry orchards, such concepts need to be investigated further for Michigan tart cherries. Moving to high-density production systems for fruit used in the processing market is easier said than done, however, as several production components will require changes. The MSU team is evaluating rootstocks, cultivars, tree spacing, irrigation and fertilization strategies for this…  » Read more

---