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QUICK BITES Go to www.goodfruit.com for the latest industry news. Faster virus detection T joins L&M L Eakin &M Companies has reached an agreement with Eakin Fruit Company of Yakima, Washington, to be its exclu- sive marketer. This will add substantially to L&M’s organic apple supply and increase its volume of mainline vari- eties. It also adds Italian prunes, Empress plums, and President plums to L&M’s portfolio. The company looks to continue expanding its plum and prune business. Michael Riehl and Zane Schwabauer, previously with Eakin Fruit, have joined L&M as full-time sales specialists. Eakin’s loading point in Union Gap offers easy access for trucks and will provide cross- docking opportunities in central Yakima, Richard Gonzales, general manager of L&M’s Washington division, said in a press release. Earlier this year, L&M joined forces with Conrad & Adams, a vertically integrated grower and shipper of apples, pears, cherries, peaches, and nectarines based in Grandview, Washington. L & M Companies is now the exclusive marketer for the diversified fruit grower and packer Eakin Fruit Company of Yakima, Washington. he Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission has awarded $35,165 in funding to Washington State University for the first year of a two-year project to evaluate a new and faster method of detecting tree fruit viruses. Currently, to determine if a fruit tree has a virus, it takes at least nine separate laboratory tests and several biological assays. Researchers with the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture in Beltsville, Mary- land, have modified microarray technology that was originally designed to detect viruses in humans and animals so that it can be used to detect plant viruses. The Research Commission’s grant will allow a WSU research team, headed by Dr. Ken Eastwell and Dr. James Susaimuthu at the Clean Plant Center of the Northwest in Prosser, to collaborate with USDA scientists to modify testing protocols and to find ways to optimize testing conditions for tree fruit diseases. The second year of the project will be spent evaluating the effectiveness of the test. For more information, check the Web site www.healthyplants.wsu.edu. Wine assessments rise T he Washington State Wine Commission has voted to increase its wine and grape assessment in order to raise money for a wine science center in Washington’s Tri- Cities. The grape assessment will increase from $10 to $12 a ton and the wine assessment from 6 to 8 cents a gallon. The wine industry approved a ceiling of $12 a ton in 2007, but the commission has not collected the full amount, according to the Wine Commission. The assessment increase will generate an additional T $7.4 million over the next decade towards the total cost of more than $23 million. Port of Benton has donated a site for the center at Richland, and the City of Richland is forming a public development authority to finance and build the facility, which will be donated to Washington State University. Robin Pollard, executive director of the Wine Commis- sion, said the commission’s board felt it was time to make a serious investment in the future of the industry. “This is an important milestone for our industry and will help provide for the necessary science and education today and well into the future.” Foundation awards 139 scholarships he Washington Apple Education Foundation has awarded scholarships to 139 Washington State stu- dents. The total amount awarded is about $425,000, a 15 percent increase from last year. Funds for the scholar- ships are contributed by industry members through memorial and annual donations, and fundraisers. Individual recipients are listed under “Scholarships” on the foundation’s Web site at www.waef.org. 54 AUGUST 2011 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com