The tree fruit industry is at a ­tipping point as leaders try to re-engineer it to address the challenges of today’s economy, observes Washington State University administrator Dr. Dan Bernardo. He explains that those challenges—labor availability, global competitiveness, increasing production costs, and increasing demand by consumers for high-­quality products—all require research-based solutions. Other nations, such as Australia, China, and various South American countries, are throwing huge amounts of funding at research and education in an attempt to capture the market, Bernardo noted during a recent WSU Fruit School covering the topic of Competitive Orchard Systems. “Our response needs to be […]