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harvest technologies were conducted. Researchers also analyzed the minimum single impact or vibration excita- tion force applied to a cherry tree to create a detachment force on a cherry stem. This will help provide necessary information for developing a new stem-free cherry harvester. A functional mockup of Picker Technologies’s trans- port tube was also constructed and is ready for evalua- tion. Picker Technologies also conducted “time to pick” studies in order to understand the economics of a fruit handling system, and made progress in modifying existing in-field cooling technologies for sweet cherries. Work was also done on developing a yield monitoring system for mechanical assist or fully mechanized sweet cherry harvest. Two major activities were focused on in this area of research, one focused on developing high res- olution mapping capabilities to collect base data on cherry orchards, the other focused on measuring worker harvest efficiency. Objective 4: Extend shelf life/ consumer appeal of sweet cherries. Three different experiments were conducted in 2010 to preliminarily assess the effect of packaging, tempera- ture, and cherry variety on the shelf life and quality of fresh sweet stem-on and stem-free cherries. Some of the preliminary findings were that shelf life of the stem-free and stem-on cherries was notably affected by the type of package, surrounding temperature, and cherry variety. In addition, a prototype bio-based container reduced the cherry weight loss by about 5, 8, and 10 percent after one, two, and three weeks of storage. A packaging survey was also developed and designed to collect critical informa- tion from cherry growers, packers, retailers, and con- sumers. The acceptance of plastics made from natural resources as alternative packaging materials to the petroleum-based ones is explored in the survey. Objective 5: Develop markets for stem-free sweet cherries and determine optimum shelf life. Consumer evaluations of stemmed and stem-free cherries were conducted. Consumers used a 7-point hedonic scale for evaluation of overall appearance, size, shape, color, overall taste/texture acceptance, acceptance of juiciness, firmness and flavor. Consumers were also asked their willingness to purchase the cherries based on a set price per pound. Results were that significant differ- ences were found in the overall appearance acceptance and acceptance of size of the stemmed vs. the stem-free cherries. The stemmed cherries had a higher mean over- all appearance acceptance and size acceptance com- pared to the stem-free cherries. However, no differences in flavor, taste, or texture attributes were found between the stemmed and stem-free cherries. Objective 6: Analyze system profitability, market potential, and develop economic models for outreach and adoption. New technologies are often assumed to be too expen- sive, unproven, or only affordable for large-scale growers. Economic analysis has begun to evaluate potential for new technology to generate a profit for all growers. Much of 2010 was allocated to to the development of the AgFinance software program and constructing a new Web site for AgTools. This information will be discussed with growers in the coming year to determine the differences in costs between farm sizes. You can keep up to date with our research project at http://sweetcherryresearch.wsu.edu. Our Web site contains news, research highlights, photos, videos, and much more. You can also sign up to receive our monthly e- newsletter on our Web site. For more information on the project, please e-mail tracie.arnold@wsu.edu. • Tracie Arnold is Project Coordinator/Communications Specialist at Washington State University, Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser. 18 MAY 15, 2011 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com