Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/50994
® WIND MACHINES— The standard by which all others are measured "My Brother Bill and I farm 300 acres of blueberries here in These machines really work Michigan. We have solid-set irrigation and use water to frost protect, we have four Orchard Rite® Wind Machines to protect where we can't get water (pumping 3,000 gallons of water per minute, we just don't have enough water to cover the farm). We'll often have temperatures around 26 to 28 degrees. With our wind machines, we can gain 3 to 5 degrees. The auto start option has been our sav- ior on cold nights. It just gives me 4 less things to do. I wouldn't buy anoth- er one without autostart. We have nine more Wind Orchard Rite® Machines in partnership operations in Washington and Oregon. I can tell you these machines really work: They've saved a lot of fruit." George and Bill Fritz Brookside Farms; Gobles, Michigan My Orchard-Rites® paid for themselves For nearly two decades, I have been farming vinifera grapes in the Grand River Val- ley of Ohio. Starting with a 2- acre leased field, my family now owns 85 acres and man- ages another 80 acres for three wineries. Today hun- dreds of wind machines dot the east coast fruit region, but back in 1995 when we installed our first machine, nobody was running them. Today we use five machines to move cold air winter and spring in frost/winterkill areas. The original propane machine now has 500 hours and still starts on the first or second crank at sub- zero temperatures. The most commonly asked question about our Orchard Rites® are: 1). Do they work? & 2). How much do they raise the winter low temperature? In our best site, currently protected by one 165hp. unit, the machine protects up to 15 at-risk acres and raises temper- ature 8-12° F. on the coldest January nights when started early. On poorer sites, less temperature increase is to be expected (3-4° F.), although the machines clearly lessen the time that the vineyard spends at the nights lowest temperatures. On a 10 acre site, with wine grapes at $1,500/ton, avoiding a one-time 1.6 tpa loss will cover the initial investment. On any one of the coldest nights between 2003-2005, each Orchard Rite® paid for itself." Gene Seigel South River Vineyard, Grand River Valley, Ohio Let us help you solve your unique frost control needs. s Cider makers S kip Sietsema and his son Andy became first-time win- ners in the Michigan Cider Contest, held during the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable, and Farm Market Expo in Grand Rapids last month. At the awards banquet, they received the traveling trophy—a wooden cider keg. The Sietsemas built a new cider mill near Ada last year and resumed cider making after several years out of the business. "I love making cider," Skip said. He grows 88 varieties of apples, but, like most cider makers, he keeps his blend a secret. Three-time contest winner Jim Engelsma, who placed third this year, was given the Master Cider Maker award, becoming the third Michigan cider maker to win three times in the 15-year history of the annual contest. Jim and his wife Becky sell cider from their retail market near Grand Rapids, pressing some 2,000 gallons a day during the height of the fall season. Bill Irwin and Bill Emory, at Irwin Orchards at South Lyons in eastern Michigan, were the first to win the Mas- ter Cider award in 2003. They came in fourth this year. Last year, Jim and Arlene Hill at Hill Bros. Orchards near Grand Rapids added to the roster of Master Cider Makers. They took second place in the cider contest this year. s Walter Clore award D eb Heintz, executive director of the Prosser Eco- nomic Development Association, received the Walter J. Clore award during the Washington State Grape Soci- ety's annual meeting in recognition of her outstanding service and contributions to the state grape industry. For the last 14 years, Heintz has helped organize the Grape Society's business and annual meetings, summer field tours, and events by serving as executive secretary. She also helps promote the grape industry through her involvement in several organizations. She is vice presi- dent of the board of directors for the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center, a member of the Yakima Valley Community College's Advisory Curriculum Committee, and a member of the YVCC Vineyard and Winery Tech- nology Steering Committee. She is a past member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service-Prosser Stakeholders Advisory Committee and recipient of Prosser's Outstanding Lady of the Year Award in 2009. 1615 W. Ahtanum • Yakima, WA 98903 • 509-248-8785, ext. 612 For the representative nearest you, visit our website: www.orchard-rite.com 8 JANUARY 1, 2012 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com s Deb Heintz Dennis Pleasant Hansen's extension work has been primarily with blueberries and other berry crops, with some work in tree fruits. His research interests include fertilizer use, weed management, high tunnel berry production, growth regulator use, variety evaluation, and organic production of blueberries and raspberries.