A look at the new Smart Orchard location, a 30-acre block of WA 38 apples on a fruiting wall and under shade netting near Mattawa, Washington. (Courtesy Washington State University) — A look at the new Smart Orchard location, a 30-acre block of WA 38 apples on a fruiting wall and under shade netting near Mattawa, Washington. **(Courtesy Washington State University)**

The Smart Orchard has a new home.

Tree fruit industry researchers, growers and technology vendors have selected a young, modern apple orchard near Mattawa, Washington, for the next iteration of the Smart Orchard Project, an experimental commercial block set aside for technology trials and demonstrations.

Operated by NWFM, an agricultural management company with Central Washington tree acreage, the orchard consists of 30 acres of WA 38 apples on M9.337 rootstocks, said Keith Veselka, managing partner. It was planted in 2021 and features high-density fruiting walls, net coverings, drip irrigation, under-tree microsprinklers and over-canopy misters.

The project is funded at $196,000 for three years by the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission. Lav Khot, a Washington State University associate professor of biological systems engineering, is listed as the principal investigator.

Khot and his numerous collaborators plan to study cold and heat stress mitigation, soil and nutrient management, irrigation automation, precision chemical applications, crop mapping and robotic pruning and thinning, among other topics, at the site, according to his research commission proposal.

The Mattawa orchard is the third location for the Smart Orchard and is the most modern and technology-friendly, said Steve Mantle, a past director of the project. It has relatively flat ground, uniform soil conditions and modern irrigation systems — something the previous location in Grandview lacked. That aging Grandview block, owned by Washington Fruit and Produce Co., has been removed.