Good Fruit Grower

February 1

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GOOD STUFF A selection of the latest products and services for tree fruit and grape growers. Fruit legends star in minimovies The new documentaries run for about 30 minutes and include a teacher's guide and Spanish subtitles. They are available to central Washington schools free of charge, courtesy of Stemilt Growers and Auvil Fruit Company. They can also be purchased at the Web site www.howellatthemoon.com. The documentaries were created as part of a Community Heritage Documentary Series in affiliation with the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. For more information, readers can also e-mail info@ howellatthemoon.com. H owell at the Moon Productions has released two new short documentaries on the legendary Washington fruit growers Grady Auvil and Tom Mathison. Gee Whiz: The Apples of Grady Auvil tells how Auvil pioneered the Granny Smith apple, Rainier cherry, and Fuji apple in the United States. Tom Mathison: The Growing Season is the biography of the hard-working family man who, through perseverance and a willingness to take risks, founded what would become one of the largest tree-fruit companies in the world, Stemilt Growers. Filmmakers Jamie Howell and Jeff Ostenson released an hour-long documentary on Auvil in 2008. This latest release, on DVD, is half as long and features a new narrator and animations. The documentary about Tom Mathison was completed in 2013. GRAS2P record-keeping T he Washington State Horticultural Association and ApRecs have teamed up to offer growers and packers access to a spray record and food-safety documentation system that includes interactive forms and updates for the association's GRAS2P program. GRAS2P (Growers Response to Agricultural Safe and Sustainable Practices) is a program designed to help fruit growers to use good agricultural practices and prepare for food-safety audits. ApRecs is compatible with recommendations from Agrian, Chamberlain Distributing, G.S. Long, Northwest Wholesale, Simplot, Wilbur-Ellis, and QFC. For more information about ApRecs, go to http:// aprecs.info. Speedy grafting tools I an Adams of Scionon, Ltd., Hastings, New Zealand, and Matt Moser of Moser Fruit Tree Sales, Inc., Coloma, Michigan, have agreed to partner in the United States and Canada in the distribution and marketing of Scionon (pronounced "scion on") grafting tools. Scionon tools are designed to allow unskilled operators to learn how to make many different kinds of grafts and can greatly increase efficiency and productivity, Moser said. Moser, a fruit tree nurseryman and broker whose family has been in the nursery business for more than 60 years, foresees the need to expand from conventional budding to bench grafting. "I think that in the future there will be lots more topworking done in Michigan and other eastern states like they do in Washington, so hopefully these tools will help the process," he said. Go to www.scionon-us.com and www.graftingsystems. com for product information. Tools can also be viewed at Adams's New Zealand Web site www.scionon.com. For more information, contact Moser at (800) 3865600 or e-mail mattmoser@forfruittrees.com. Brandt brand is a masterpiece .W. Brandt and Sons, a fruit growing, packing, E and marketing operation in Wapato, Washington, is expanding its operations and is using RemBrandt Masterpiece fruit as its brand. The moves reflect the company's intensified focus on growing and packing after divesting its nursery division last year. Brandt's Fruit Trees, formerly a division of E.W. Brandt, now operates as a separate business owned by Lynnell Brandt, while brothers Allen Brandt and Dana Brandt head E.W. Brandt and Sons. The company has added acreage and increased storage capacity with a new facility in Wapato, which includes a small specialty packing line. It has also expanded its field service and developed an online portal for growers. The company is upgrading machinery across the entire operation, from trucks to packing equipment, and is installing a new software system for inventory management and tracking. It also has launched a website, www.rembrandtfruit. com. Allen said customers like the RemBrandt name, which the company trademarked several years ago. "It's memorable, and it instantly reflects the commitment to quality that our company and our family stand for." 46 FEBRUARY 1, 2014 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com

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