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Nursery trees are selling fast
Strong prices for apples during the past few seasons have prompted a spurt in orchard
Automated crop estimating
An experimental crop yield estimator travels down an orchard row at a speed of
Cold is hot topic at Expo
Great Lakes region fruit growers won’t soon forget 2012, the year that Mother Nature, for
How cold hardy?
Washington State University scientists hope to find a better way to assess cold hardiness of
Machines in Quebec
David Guerdin has several years of experience with his Munckhof apple harvester (left) and
Good to Know—What growers want in new varieties
Adopting a new scion cultivar is a crucial decision for tree fruit growers, who must
Robotic pruning
Vision Robotics is well along in developing a robotic pruner for grapes, shown at
Growers try it out
Growers delight in using the new DBR during a demonstration in Michigan. Its strong
Austrian researcher tests seaweed claims
Manufacturers of biostimulants derived from seaweed, or algae, say the products can provide multiple benefits
Last Bite— The Honeycrisp explosion
Jim Luby (left) and David Bedford rescued Honeycrisp from the discard pile and brought
Good Stuff
Bayer purchases AgraQuest Bayer Crop Science, headquartered in Germany, has purchased the U.S. biological crop-protection
Harvester studied for cider apples
An over-the-row raspberry harvester is tested for harvesting cider apples Geraldine Warner Cider apple growing
Big demand for cider
Left: The bittersweet apple Harry Master’s Jersey. Bittersweet apples are in big demand. Center: Yarlington
Insect-resistant varieties
Joseph Schwarz explains how he screens trees for resistance to leafrollers during WSU’s field
Growing a cider culture
Scientists with Washington State University in Mount Vernon hope to support an emerging hard cider
U.S. cider takes U.K. honors
Snowdrift cidery makes several blends of cider and perry. Perry is made from pears.Geraldine
Honeycrisp moves into top six
For the first time, Honeycrisp will make the list of the top six apple varieties
Apple pricing will be challenging this year
U.S. apple growers will market a smaller-than-average-size crop this year, but pricing the product won’t
Ice cider
Apples that hang on the tree well into winter aren’t crucial to making ice
From bin to bottle
A continuous belt press at Tulip Valley Orchard and Vineyard in Mount Vernon, Washington. Geraldine
Cider is cool
Drew Zimmerman evaluates a single-variety cider he made from apples in WSU’s cider orchard.
The ciders of Quebec
In Canada’s Quebec province, the word cider means only one thing—fermented apple juice. You don’t
Good to know: WSU releases WA 38 apple
The latest release from WSU, WA 38, is an eye-catching, large, dark red apple with
The clubs of Quebec
Paul and Gérald Lussier have about 100 acres of apples and are part of
Apple growers’ union gives market power to Quebec growers
Steve Levasseur is president of the Federation of Apple Growers of Quebec, a powerful
Arctic apples
The Arctic Granny and Arctic Golden keep their white flesh after slicing. Photo Courtesy of
Arctic apples get cold shoulder
The U.S. Apple Association, the Northwest Horticultural Council, and the British Columbia Fruit Growers’ Association
Learning from the freeze
Phil Schwallier and Amy Irish-Brown have good records showing Fruit Ridge weather this spring.
Focus shifts to full automation
Faculty at Washington State University’s Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems plan to focus
Good to Know — Consumers prefer WA 2
WA 2 is a bright red-pink color with distinct lenticels. It is at prime eating
WA 2 update
WA 2 in 2011 at Quincy, Washington, with a crop of 79 bins per
Grower patents new variety
Twenty-five years after starting an innocent project planting apple seeds from pomace left after cider
Substitute for SweeTango
Fred Wescott wanted to grow and market the apple that was later named SweeTango. He
DS 22 planned for this fall
Doug Shefelbine’s new apple, DS 22, may debut this September, marketed by Wescott Agri-Products,
The rush to redness
David Bedford Dr. David Bedford, the apple breeder at University of Minnesota where the original
New New York apples go in the ground this spring
This is NY 1, the Honeycrisp-like grower-friendly apple. Commercial plantings began this spring. Photo courtesy
A redder HONEYCRISP
PHOTO BY RICHARD LEHNERT New sports of popular apples—especially if they’re redder—always attract plenty of
In the Box
Now available online at goodfruit.com/Good-Fruit-Grower/April-15th-2012/ Get-the-most-out-of-glyphosate/ Why so BIG? Dear Good Fruit Grower: I own
Spotlight on apple skin problems
Cracks in the fruit cuticle can form soon after bloom (back), exposing the underlying hypodermal
Good to Know
VG is a substituted amino acid derived via fermenting the naturally occurring antibiotic rhizobitoxine. After
Good to Know
Premature fruit drop can cause 20 percent or more yield loss in pears without intervention.
What do rootstocks do
Apple growers first became interested in grafting scions onto rootstocks when they realized that dwarfing
Fruit drop is not simple to manage
Dr. Rongcai Yuan made important contributions to understanding fruit abscission processes. He died a year
Silver bullet is short lived
Neal Manly said Tiberon was a unique tool to help nurseries produced branched trees for
Lone organic grower finds it tough
Most of Owens’s orchards are surrounded by mature timber. On this mountain, he has three
Organic plantings drop
Organic tree fruit acreage in Washington State is on the decline overall, although plantings of
Eastern organic apples
Until now, Owens has worked with orchards established conventionally and converted to organic. This year,
Last Bite: Gala breeder put flavor first
Gale Gala is a sport of Royal Gala discovered by Wally Gale in Wenatchee, Washington,
Wide scope for rootstock research
International Fruit Tree Association members tour a research plot at Wapato, Washington, where a wide
Snow apple of Quebec
The Fameuse is a taste sensation, but its bad habits doomed the cultivar