December 2016

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Growers of the Year

Featured stories about the Good Fruit Growers of the Year.

Click here to view a PDF version of this issue.

Nick Ferrari, Young Grower from Linden, California

How does smoke affect wine grapes?

Getting involved with industry groups. Fruit growers have numerous opportunities to be involved in everything from policy setting to marketing decisions. Here’s a rundown of some places to get involved. For those outside the Northwest, look for similar opportunities in your region.

Industry groups lend plenty of opportunities for growers to get involved

Karen Lewis, WSU tree fruit regional extension specialist, gives Rob Blakey, the extension’s most recent hire, a tour of several orchards around Pasco, Washington, in mid-October. TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower

Finding the right people

A surveillance trap hangs amid apple trees as part of a monitoring effort for new pests in British Columbia. (Courtesy Michelle Cook, Okanagan-Kootenay Sterile Insect Release Program)

B.C. pest management strategies build on deep roots

Coastal California apple growers hold on through relationship with Martinelli’s

The GMO apple has arrived

Jamie Coggins, a graduate student, and Bonnie Schonberg, a research technician, measure the effects of fire blight on apple trees during a trial at Washington State University’s Columbia View research orchard near Orondo, Washington, in June. (Ross Courtney/Good Fruit Grower)

Tracking fire blight

The tart cherry breeding selection, left, exhibiting the sweet cherry derived tolerance to cherry leaf spot, right, at Michigan State University's Botany Farm, East Lansing, Michigan pm July 24, 2015. This orchard was not sprayed for cherry leaf spot in 2015. (Courtesy Kristen Andersen)

RosBREED, part II

Cidermaker Marcus Robert at Tieton Cider Works' cider orchard in Yakima, Washington in 2014. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower file photo)

Robert: More cider apples are needed to meet soaring demand

Cold-hardy apple variety draws interest for hard ciders

WSU Extension plans 2017 winter tree fruit programs

Yakima Convention Center (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower)

2017 Cherry Institute will be held Jan. 20 — Pear, WSFC nominations at annual meetings

Vineyard managers are looking to reduce hand labor and increase mechanization in their fields. Some very specific tasks, like how Ignacio Silva is pruning Cabernet Sauvignon back to eight spurs per cordon, may be more difficult to mechanize. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower)

Hansen: Vineyard mechanization – Is grape quality impacted?

Participants who attended the 2016 Hispanic Summer Fruit Tour heard a presentation from Mario Miranda Sazo (right), Cornell Cooperative Extension fruit specialist, and Juan Pascal (left), a VanDeWalle Fruit Farm employee with 30 years of nursery experience, on feathering and tree growing techniques near Alton, New York. (Courtesy Matt Wells/Cornell Cooperative Extension)

Sazo: Recruiting – and keeping – workers

Lynnell Brandt, left, president of Proprietary Variety Management, discusses licensing and grade standards of Cosmic Crisp apples during a field day in September in Quincy, Washington. At right is Ines Hanrahan, project manager for the Washington State Tree Fruit Research Commission. (Ross Courtney/Good Fruit Grower)

Cosmic Crisp to be grown overseas: Hort Show Preview

Introducing our Spanish website

A succession story: 2016 Growers of the Year

Mark Zirkle takes a photo of Lady Alice apples waiting to be shipped to their packing facility. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower)

Diversity wins: 2016 Growers of the Year

Staying ahead: 2016 Growers of the Year

Orchards under cover: Hort Show Preview

Mega-trends in produce: Hort Show Preview

Antonio Quintana of Mt. Adams Orchards discusses the stem length of Cosmic Crisp apples with Juan Piñon of Wilson Irrigation during a field day at test blocks north of Prosser, Washington, in September. (Ross Courtney/Good Fruit Grower)

Cosmic Crisp insights: Hort Show Preview

Melba Salazar-Gutierrez of Washington State University speaks about practical use of AgWeatherNet in orchards during one of the Spanish speaking sessions at the annual meeting of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower)

Sessions engage Spanish speakers: Hort Show Preview

This chart identities the five key phases of a new technology’s life cycle and can be used to assess the risk of investing in the technology. (Source: gartner.com)

Tree fruit technology roadmap : Hort Show Preview

Rob Blakey in a Pasco, Washington orchard on October 13, 2016. Blakey, the second extension specialist hired through Washington State University endowment funding. He specializes in postharvest issues. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower)

Washington State hires tree fruit extension specialist

Jesus Ramos, Young Grower from Royal City, Washington

Center for Produce Safety awards research grants

Marisol Oviedo, regulatory information specialist for the Northwest Horticultural Council in Yakima, Washington, on October 27, 2016. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower)

Oviedo is new regulatory information specialist at NHC

Kate Prengaman

Prengaman joins Good Fruit Grower