Pedestrian orchards offer potentially significant savings in labor costs for California’s stone fruit growers, but industry officials have never evaluated the orchard systems for feasibility and affordability. A new research project is evaluating the concept of a true pedestrian orchard and the potential for it being adopted by growers. Kevin Day, University of California Cooperative Extension tree fruit farm advisor for Tulare County, is leading the project to assess pedestrian orchard systems in a side- by-side, uniform setting, to allow growers to see early and late-season peach and nectarine varieties grown on the industry standard rootstock Nemaguard and on the […]