Equipment

Mechanical Harvest Cuts Costs and Need for Labor

Mechanically harvested fresh-market sweet cherries have already debuted, but the fact they haven’t made headline news testifies that some problems remain. Nobody’s complaining about quality. In fact, these cherries – harvested without stems – have... more »

Winery Expansion Runs Into a Little Resistance From Neighbors

Black Star Farms’ expansion into a neighboring peninsula was not without controversy, but the company’s growth seems – for the most part – to be proceeding smoothly. Black Star, a popular winery on Michigan’s Leelanau... more »

Irrigation Water Can Provide Freeze Protection – Sometimes

Locking the barn after the horse has gone is futile, everyone agrees – unless you recover the horse and can expect the same behavior in the future. That’s the way it is with making the... more »

Tart Cherry Industry Will Decide the Fate of Its Marketing Order

In March, tart cherry growers and handlers will decide whether to extend the life of their industry’s federal marketing order, known as the Cherry Industry Administrative Board (CIAB). The voters will receive ballots in the... more »

Letters To The Editor

Our carbon footprint and other energy issues I just read your column in the January issue of The Fruit Growers News (“Editor has energetic resolution for the coming year,” page 35). I laud you in... more »

Strawberry Harvest Sets Record in ’07

A damaging freeze in January 2006 helped strawberry production in California last year grow by nearly 7 million trays - each equivalent to 10 pounds of strawberries - the California Strawberry Commission said Monday. Salinas... more »

Labor Audit a Nightmare Scenario for Farm Market

Abigail Jacobson didn’t want to spread doom and gloom, but she had a story to tell about Friday the 13th that would scare the pants off any farm marketer. Jacobson’s business, Westview Orchards & Cider... more »

Great Lakes Water Compact Still Spurs Controversy

Michigan – and the other seven states and two Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes Basin – is either undertaking one of the greatest environmental protection and conservation measures in the history of the world,... more »

An Energetic Resolution for the Coming Year

It’s a great year to make New Year’s resolutions. Elections are coming this fall, and from the amount and earliness of the political activity, everybody seems to be getting primed to cast a few important... more »

Prices of Juice Apples Have Gotten Positively … Juicy

After nearly a decade of low and flat prices for juice apples, prices were sharply higher this fall, rising for the second year in a row. Apple juice concentrate, which cost as little as $4... more »