Sep 2, 2011

Washington tree fruit growers voting on assessment

Washington tree fruit growers who pay assessments to the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission (WTFRC) are voting on a special assessment that would raise $32 million for research. The Washington Department of Agriculture mailed ballots to apple, cherry, pear and soft-fruit growers Aug. 10. The goal of the assessment is to permanently expand the research and Extension services of Washington State University (WSU) at the Wenatchee and Prosser tree fruit centers, said Jim McFerson, WTFRC’s manager.

The Campaign for Tree Fruit assessment would be used to fund three endowments, McFerson said. The endowment funds would be managed by the WSU Research Foundation and would be a gift to WSU and be overseen by an industry advisory committee that would be formed for that role. The assessments would be collected at the point of first handling after harvest.

“WSU, like many other state universities across the country, has been staggered by budget cuts,” McFerson said. “This campaign serves as our industry wanting to support Extension and the research that we need. Extension is disappearing and our universities are not going to receive much more funding from the state or federal governments.”

Twelve million dollars would go toward creating six faculty research positions for various areas of study, McFerson said. The new faculty would oversee subjects such as IPM and plant breeding.

Another $12 million would fund information and technology transfer – representing a strategic approach to address the fiscal, organizational and technological realities of fruit production. This endowment would create a coordinated program built around five priority areas: crop protection, postharvest handling and storage, soil health and plant nutrition, engineering solutions in orchard systems and plant improvement.

“This assessment, if it passes, would invest in research and Extension so we can compete in the marketplace and stay ahead technologically,” McFerson said.

The final area for endowment would be research orchard operations. While some support for WSU research orchards at Prosser and Wenatchee is already provided, the current funding sources don’t permit sustained operation of commercially relevant orchards. The endowment of $8 million will generate at least $320,000 per year for orchard operations, $220,000 at Wenatchee and $100,000 at Prosser. The endowment would permit the orchards to be managed in perpetuity, McFerson said.

“This whole campaign really builds on a partnership the fruit industry has with WSU and USDA research,” he said. “What we hope to do is build a stronger and better system than we’ve ever had.”

If the new assessment passes, the state government will enact new legislation in early October and assessments will begin to be collected in the 2012 crop year.

“We’ve projected that from those first-year assessments, there will be $4 million available immediately to those areas outlined in the campaign,” McFerson said.

By Derrek Sigler, assistant editor