Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/50994
Good Fruit Growers of the Year CONCERNED about labor M ark Rice, like almost every other commercial fruit grower, is concerned about his future labor supply. Rice needs about 100 workers during harvest, and about 30 in winter for pruning. "This has been a popular destination for migrant farm workers," he said of Adams County, where R & L Orchards is located. At least 1,500 people are needed to harvest the county's 5 or 6 million bushels of apples over about seven weeks. Rice pays piece rate for fall harvest, but pays by the hour for all other farm labor, including harvest of peaches and late-summer apples such as Gala and Honeycrisp. Pruning is always by the hour. "I want to avoid bad pruning cuts," he said. Working mostly from the ground, pruners use long-arm loppers, pole saws, hand saws with high- quality blades, and Felco 7 pruners. The tops of taller trees are handled using hydraulically positioned bucket platforms. Workers are supervised closely when pruning. R & L has been diligently investing in its farm worker housing facilities. With a housing capacity of more than 100 in four camps, it is a real financial burden, he said. "Good housing conditions are a point of pride for me, but also may become necessary if the indigenous farm worker population continues to experience serious attrition, and we end up with only the option of using a federal program to import labor. Then, good housing will be absolutely a necessity, especially in view of the intensified regulatory scrutiny we could expect." In 2010, he invested a half million dollars in one of the facilities, upgrading all systems and adding four 1,100-square-foot manufactured homes which house seven men each. "It was no day at the beach getting through the regulatory swamp," he recalled. — R. Lehnert About thinning, he said, "We tried the Darwin, but it did a lot of tree damage, and it is nonselective. On our hills, it takes a very good operator." For thinning, Mark uses a combination of things—late pruning to remove unwanted blossoms before they bloom, ammonium thiosulfate to burn some blossoms at full bloom, tree shaking to remove green fruit, and hand thinning. Mark has worked several years to modify old limb shakers developed for use in tart cherry harvest more than 50 years ago—and later abandoned in favor of trunk shakers. Mark and his key people have worked to refine the design and find the best shaker vibration frequency. "Our latest model looks pretty good," he said. "We have low tree injury, and it doesn't overdo the tops." R & L has also used pneumatic handheld shakers with success. In the East, peaches are prone to a number of diseases, especially cankers, that shorten their lives to 15 years or less. "The V trees seem a little healthier, more resistant to canker," he said. "But it's harder to grow a big peach on the V system." • ISOMATE -CM FL ® echno Sustainable Mating Disruption Technology for Your Growing Needs ating Disruption Technolog of 200-400 dispensers per acre off 200-40 00 dispensers per acr pensers per acr www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER JANUARY 1, 2012 15 pe TE - CM F LEX -CM FLEX L E X