Project Description
Labor, Equipment, Economics
Featured stories about labor, equipment and economics appear in this issue.
Click here to view a PDF version of this issue.
Are you over 50?
To find out if you will be required to provide a health benefits plan for your employees starting January 1, you need to calculate if
An educator who teaches hope
Leo Garcia has been honored for his dedication to helping Hispanic people in the tree fruit industry to reach their full potential through education. Garcia,
Thin, thin, THIN!
Phil Schwallier Thinning rules In an article in Good Fruit Grower in 2009, Cornell University’s Dr. Terence Robinson laid out some general rules for fruit
High-tech nursery cuts propagation time
Pear rootstocks growing in the tissue culture lab. PHOTOS BY GERALDINE WARNER A high-tech nursery based in Pullman, Washington, is propagating Washington State
Good Job
IFTA presents awards The International Fruit Tree Association gave recognition to fruit growers, researchers, and extension specialists during its annual meeting in Boston in February.
Another Geneva mixup
For the second time in as many years, there has been a stumble along the road to bringing the new Geneva rootstock, G.214, to growers'
Tree fruit program revived
Although Leo Garcia is best known in the tree fruit industry for championing education programs for Hispanic workers, he’s also been dedicated to enhancing agricultural
Mechanizing vineyard saves hundreds per acre
At year’s end, when costs of all the grapevine tasks are added up, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates’s Mike Means calculates that the company saves more
Most vineyard tasks mechanized
This trunk scrubber of the vMech system is used by Ste. Michelle Wine Estates to control suckers. The device looks similar to a weed whacker
Five things to consider when buying a tractor
An example of an older tractor without modern-day features of a rollover protection structure (now mandatory) and an enclosed cab to protect workers during pesticide
New off-road emission standards coming
Clean diesel technology has been making its way off the highways and into farms and fields and other off-road uses since the 1990s. For growers,
Simple rules
A century ago, Ford Motor Company adopted the assembly line and began cranking out Model T cars that were as alike as peas in a
New grape disease reduces yields, quality
Left: A Merlot grapevine shows redleaf symptoms on mature leaves in the lower portions of the canopy. Symptoms are easily confused with grapevine leafroll disease.
Start working on health care now
Health care reform will add to employers’ costs and complicate their business when regulations take effect next year. But, attorney Sheldon Blumling says agricultural employers
Calculating the value of biological control
Washington State University entomologist Dr. Stan Hoyt developed integrated mite control in the late 1960s (see “How integrated mite control works”). Over the last four
Positive trends for Bartletts
The Pacific Northwest canned pear industry is in a good position now, based on inventory, pricing, demand, and import trends. The positive outlook for the
Ladder falls top accident list
Employers are required to have an accident prevention plan.
How integrated mite control works
One of the keys to integrated mite control was that the western predatory mite Typhlodromus occidentalis could effectively control spider mites under certain conditions. In
What Tier 4 standards mean
Fuel requirements. New engines will require ultra-low sulfur diesel that has no more than 15 parts per million of sulfur. (This fuel has been used
Students tackle tree fruit issues
Two north central Washington high school students got their first lobbying experience when they participated in the annual Tree Fruit Day at the Washington State
Grape harvesters are going high-tech
The grape harvester, on display at an Italian equipment show, can sort fruit in the field for MOG (material other than grapes), inferior berries,
Last Bite: FruiTrivia
1. An experimental Solid Set Canopy Delivery System is designed for: a. Applying pesticides b. Evaporative cooling c. Dispensing pheromones d. Irrigation e. Frost
An urgent plea for immigration reform
Devout Christians will tell you God works in mysterious ways. So, perhaps it was divine intervention that two teenagers from the Yakima Valley in Washington