Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/450509
www.goodfruit.com Good Fruit Grower FEBRUARY 1, 2015 45 PHIL BROWN WELDING CORP. PHIL BROWN WELDING CORP. PHIL BROWN WELDING CORP. phone (616) 784-3046 • fax: (616) 784-5852 • 4689–8 mile rd nW, Conklin, michigan 49403 www.philbrownwelding.com BUILDING theBEST since 1964! Box Rotator Box Shuttle Double Fork Ground Hog Frost Fan Economy LIft 3-Point Forks 3-Point Hi Lift Conveyors Freight-Mate Durand Wayland Sprayers We offer a full line of fruit & vegetable equipment: Contact Vine Tech Equipment your Northwest Phil Brown Dealer 509-788-0900 www.vinetechequipment.com A properly planted tree produces like no other. • Adjustable tree depth. • Works on stony and tough ground. • Shoe swings for handling. • Electronic distance marker also available. • Two row tool bar available. TREE PLANTER Self-Propelled Work Platform Hydraulic Work Platform (sold separately) can be mounted on any available running gear. trees, Farrow can potentially sell 1,400 bushels per acre worth $28 a box. But if the apples pack out at 100-count, that could be $6 less a box, and he gives up 22 percent of his potential income. Farrow calls that "leaving money on the table." "What are you leaving on the table?" he asked apple growers during the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable, and Farm Market Expo in Grand Rapids in December. He later amplified on his thoughts in a phone interview with Good Fruit Grower. Precision management Farrow has been speaking publicly to other growers for a decade about the need for, and the rewards of, precision orchard management. He credits Dr. Terence Robinson with creating those particular words to describe the fruit grower's challenge. Farrow came to the United States from England as a student in 1980 and worked as an intern on George and Roger Lamont's farm. He became an employee at Lamont Fruit Farms in 1986, began buying in as a part- ner in 1999, and then, in 2009, became full owner when George Lamont retired. As one of ten members of Lake Ontario Fruit, which packs and sells their apples, Farrow said he and his fellow growers have accumulated lots of cost and return infor- mation. They've learned what makes money. In 2006, in an article in Good Fruit Grower, Lamont and Farrow said they'd found the most profitable Gala apple was an 88-count size. But that depends on the variety. "Almost every variety has a price spread based on size, and some- where in there is where the price premiums are. For some varieties, the premium is for smaller apples," he said. Today, Farrow lists fruit size as "the driver of success." Precise thinning is crucial to achieve that. He advised growers to set benchmarks for their orchard blocks—"know your potential"—and set a goal of achieving 95 percent of that potential. "Variety is most important," he said. In 2012, Honeycrisp apples returned to the farm about $37 a box, while Gala returned $16 and Empire $15. Yield and packout, however, are also important. It is probably easier for a grower to produce 1,600 bushels of Empire or 1,400 of Gala than 900 bushels of Honeycrisp. He says he's been able to get his Honeycrisp pack- out "consistently above 80 percent," but that's partly because his workers leave the really poor apples in the orchard. He has reduced bitter pit by applying calcium sprays weekly all season—14 to 15 sprays—but that doesn't eliminate the cuts, holes, stem punctures, limb rubs, and bruising that seem to plague the variety and reduce the packout. Fruiting walls Narrow canopies are also very important because they allow all fruit to reach full size and color. "Broad trees grow a broad range of apples," he said. Growers only want to grow premium apples, and the best place to grow them is on two-dimensional trees—trees only about 18 to 24 inches thick. "Narrow canopies naturally produce uniform, premium apples," he said. When individual trees are tall and thin, it is easier to manage a target number of fruit that each must produce. He uses mechanical hedging to maintain the shape of the thin canopy but still does detail hand pruning. He has No more unsanitary, wet, burlap sacks! Visit www.vydconcepts.com to find out how farmers and producers are protecting their fruit, providing food safety compliance along with sunburn and heat protection. ELISSA HOLDENER STEPHEN COLLUM 707-349-9479 • elissa@vydconcepts.com 209-743-2773 • www.vydconcepts.com VINEYARD CONCEPTS A VINEYARD MANAGEMENT COMPANY "Narrow canopies naturally produce uniform, premium apples." —Rod Farrow