The orchard of the future will have more trees per acre, in order to generate high early production, and bench grafts or sleeping eyes will be planted in place to make high-density plantings affordable, industry leaders envisioned during the Washington State Horticultural Association’s convention. The trees will be trained to a trellis, probably a V system, with the goal of producing high yields of target fruit, which for apples means premium fruit in sizes 88 to 64. Orchards will be designed to accommodate technology, such as robotic harvesters. Pears and cherries, like apples, will also need to be produced on […]