Brett Drescher of Washington (left) and Chris Kropf of Michigan discuss the phenomenal production at Richard Hoddy’s orchard. Members of the International Fruit Tree Association were stunned when they visited Richard Hoddy’s orchard in Nelson, New Zealand. Hoddy showed the group a block of Braeburn on M.793 rootstocks that consistently produces more than 100 tons per hectare (100 bins per acre) of large fruit. Hoddy struggles to get fruit size down to the 105-count size that his customers prefer, he said. In 2005, the block produced 115 tons per hectare (115 bins per acre). In 2006, it yielded 105 tons […]