Good Fruit Grower

June 2011 Vol 62 number 11

Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/34757

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 13 of 47

Peaches aplenty Jerry Frecon has evaluated over a thousand new peach varieties in the past 20 years. by Richard Lehnert F or more than a century, the free- stone peach market in the east- ern United States was dominated by two varieties. First was Elberta, a peach from Georgia that domi- nated production from 1880 to about 1950. Then, along came Michigan’s Red- haven, which became the world’s most- planted peach for the rest of the twentieth century. Orchard-Rite® But that single-variety domination sends a quirky message, for it suggests a lack of activity by breeders or lack of change in the industry, and that’s not the case. For most of the last century, breed- ers have churned out new varieties. There are, in fact, so many choices today that growers struggle to keep up with them all. Luckily, they have the help of Jerry Frecon. From his location in southern New Jersey, where 90 percent of that state’s peaches are produced, this Rutgers University agricultural agent has for 29 years led a testing and evaluation pro- gram that influences not only what Mid- Atlantic growers plant, but the choices made by growers across the United States and in other countries. His Fact Sheets, available on the Rut- gers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Wind Machines • www.orchard-rite.com “The wind machine made all of the difference.” Station Web site, describe the characteris- tics of dozens of yellow and white melting flesh peach varieties, yellow and white nectarines, flat peach varieties, and plums. Most years, he participates in a peach or fruit variety showcase and open house, which last year displayed 180 peach varieties when it was held at the Pennsylvania State Fruit Research and Extension Center in Biglerville. It drew more than 120 peach growers. He began this evaluation work in 1982, when he came to Rutgers after spending ten years at Stark Bro’s Nurseries, where he found and introduced new varieties. One of his best introductions while at Stark Bro’s was Encore, a peach cultivar that was bred by Rutgers but initially dis- carded by the New Jersey Peach Council. When he came to Rutgers, he convinced growers of its value. Eventually, more than 10 percent of the peaches grown in New Jersey were Encore, the single largest vari- ety. Other new varieties since tested by Frecon have replaced it in importance. While at Stark, he also introduced Sat- urn, one of the first peento (flat, or dough- nut-shaped) peaches, also a Rutgers cultivar. Many other flat peaches have been tested and some introduced. Today, he has a research planting con- taining 25 varieties of plums and 350 vari- eties of peaches and nectarines, usually four trees of each cultivar on Lovell or other peach seedling rootstocks. Growers visit his blocks in cooperating grower orchards to see what the varieties look like in production. “I used to get numbered varieties from many breeders and test them, but it’s too big a project now,” he said. “Over the last twenty years, I’ve probably evaluated more than a thousand varieties.” Now, much of his testing focuses on of the orchard. We’vealways had a problemwith production on the east side of the orchard. In 2007, we actually froze out, which happens about every fourth year. W This year, with our Orchard-Rite® Wind Machine, we had an even crop throughout. The wind machine made all of the difference. The Auto Start option has also been a great advantage since we live 20 miles from the farm. I may put in another machine, but with the amount of air movement I’m getting, I think I’m covering the whole acreage. Larry and Pat Wildman Salem, Oregon Get the Orchard-Rite® story from your nearest representative: ehavegrownabout 20acresofcherries for 25yearsorso. Usually, in a cold year, we won’t have a crop in about half new varieties being bred by Joseph Goffreda, the Rutgers New Jersey Agricul- tural Experiment Station fruit breeder, but he still exchanges information with breeders across the country. There are nine large peach-breeding programs in the United States. “Peaches, plums, and nectarines have been tested from private breeding pro- grams like Paul Friday, Fruit Acres, Zaiger Genetics, and Burchell Nursery,” he said. “There are public peach breeding pro- grams at the USDA-ARS in Byron, Geor- gia, and Kearneysville, West Virginia, at Rutgers, the University of Arkansas, Michigan State University, and Clemson University,” he said. “Nurseries like Adams County, Cumberland Valley Nurseries, Dave Wilson Nursery, Stark Bro’s Nurs- eries, and individual growers have found and provided varieties for testing.” Important trends A lot has changed in the peach indus- 1615W. Ahtanum • Yakima,WA 98903 • 509-457-9196 www.orchard-rite.com 14 JUNE 2011 GOOD FRUIT GROWER try, Frecon said. A century ago, many peaches were white-fleshed, and now most are yellow-fleshed. Now, breeders and growers are looking for white-fleshed varieties and more novel varieties as the trend seems to be changing. The peach season keeps getting longer. In the days of Elberta, peaches were late www.goodfruit.com

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Good Fruit Grower - June 2011 Vol 62 number 11