With the site, rootstock and variety selected, the next major decisions involve the type of orchard system and density. To be competitive in today's global apple market, orchard systems must provide early returns, produce uniform fruit with good size, and be labor efficient.

 

After testing prototypes of their apple-harvesting system in Washington State in 2009, Picker Technologies and Oxbo are fine-tuning the technology. They plan to field test the next-generation harvester this spring with the hope of bringing it to market soon. Picker Technologies LLC of Mercer Island, Washington, and Oxbo International Corporation of Clear Lake, Wisconsin, formed a partnership two years ago to develop and commercialize fruit harvesting, scanning, and sorting technologies, beginning with apples.

In pioneering the first mountainside planting on Washington State's Red Mountain near Benton City, Ryan Johnson and partner Paul McBride are taking vineyard planting to the extreme. From the bottom of the estate vineyard to the steep top, the elevation changes from 960 feet above sea level to 1,230 feet, with slopes ranging from 22 to 30 degrees. Though only 13 acres of their 20-acre parcel are plantable, they found nine different soil types, varying from silty loams to caliche to sand.