It’s hard for a grower to leave part of the crop in the orchard, after nurturing the fruit through the whole growing season. And it’s hard to believe a grower can be better off taking less fruit to the warehouse—particularly if their neighbors just harvest everything. For a number of years, the Washington tree fruit industry has been encouraging orchardists to leave small or low-grade apples in the field as a way to manage the crop size statewide, reduce the volume of poor fruit going to market, and perhaps boost f.o.b. prices. But a software program developed by Dr. Clark […]