Demonstrations of equipment and cutting-edge technology complemented a cheery social setting as the Michigan Pomesters’ RidgeFest 2021 farm tour event was held Thursday afternoon, July 29.
Kicking off with lunch, the event included a demonstration of computer vision technologies and a demonstration of different sprayers. The wagons drove through orchards in the Grand Rapids area. Apple cider was in plentiful supply, and the event ended at Ed Dunneback & Girls Farm Market where apple grower Gunnar Nyblad & The Grizzly Boys performed music.
Here are some of the sights and details of the event.
Michigan State University Extension educator Phil Schwallier presented his former staff member Denise Ruwersma with the Michigan Pomesters’ Fruit Person of the Year award. He described her as a “diamond” and told a hilarious tale about Ruwersma being told to measure tree trunks when it turned out the orchard had recently been fertilized with turkey manure. “Denise continued to measure the trunks,” he said. Ruwersma joked she’d had some “shitty” jobs but loved working with the apple growers. “I couldn’t think of better people,” she said.An educational table was set out with a demonstration of some iodine starch tests of apple ripeness.This classic McCormick-Deering orchard tractor was at Thome Orchards.Bernard J. Thome and Kristen Thome hosted the next stop on the RidgeFest farm tour.Anna Wallis, an apple production specialist for Michigan State University, led a session with presentations from several companies with products and data analysis services for precision agriculture.A drone-mounted platform for remote sensing technology was demonstrated by staff of Bruno Basso’s laboratory at Michigan State University.A drone-mounted platform for remote sensing technology was demonstrated by staff of Bruno Basso’s laboratory at Michigan State University.
The drone pilot showed the crowd a tablet screen as the drone hovered above.Farm Vision, a technology for visually measuring fruitlet growth rates and estimating crop level, gave a demonstration.The Farm Vision system gathers data via a phone camera set up in a handheld rig.VIVID Machines gave a presentation on the use of multi-spectral imaging systems that gather data on orchards to inform precision growing decisions such as thinning. The cameras can be mounted and carried in a variety of ways.Fruit Scout allows growers to take pictures of their tree trunks and fruit with a card nearby for reference, and upload them to a platform for analysis.Rob Steffens Orchards hosted a stop on the RidgeFest tour.Eight different sprayers were demonstrated with commentary from equipment dealers, manufacturers, or the growers who owned the equipment.AG-TecCURTEC C-3000PRECISE Manufacturing Expt. 400-8TURBO-MIST S30P500NTSBluelinePROVIDE AGRO HSSCF2000MUNCKHOFF Varimas 3PHIL BROWN WELDING ConceptThe sprayers were around afterward for closer inspection.
This block of Red Ridge Gala was of interest on the tour.
