Good Fruit Grower

March 15

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Engineered forEngineered for performance, durability, reliability, and longevity! mance, durability Discover the Chinook fan blade advantage. fan blade advantage. 5 Increased Radius Coverage by 80-150 Feet with Same HP Draw 5 Air Flow Starts 14'' from Hub 5 Donier Swept Tip—Reduces Tip Drag Bins no longer used for fruit must be so marked. TAKE TIME TO LEARN about food safety programs before beginning D onny Schlect, orchard food safety coordinator for Highland Fruit Growers, Inc., Yakima, who has been involved with implementing food safety measures on his own family farm, rec- ommends that growers who aren't following a formalized food safety program to begin first by attending a food safety seminar. "There are lots of Donny Schlect has been involved with implementing food safety measures on his family's farm. seminars available," he said during a food safety panel discussion at the Northwest Cherry Insti- tute meeting in January. "Attend something, so you can to start to get a handle on the issue." Then spend the next few months looking at programs of neighbor- ing growers, and gather information from your packing house or marketer, he suggested. "For a small- to medium-sized grower, simplicity is the key," Schlect said, adding that many of the rec- ommendations of programs would be nice to imple- ment, but growers often don't have the luxury of time. "You can cross off some on the list as not applicable." He recommended dividing up the food safety pro- gram into three or four phases—a manageable num- ber to work on. "Give yourself a six-month window to set up your program and then spend some time on it every week. Focus on one item at a time, break your list down, and group some things together." He estimated that it took about six months to put everything in place in preparation for an audit. Deci- phering exactly what is needed to pass an audit can be difficult, he warned. Most programs require a farm audit to verify that the requirements have been implemented. "You don't have to go through the process alone," Schlect said, noting that dialogue with other growers and industry members is crucial. "Use every resource available, from your packer, to GRAS2 P [a preaudit program of the Washington State Horticultural Association], to others." —M. Hansen www.goodfruit.com Your Krymsk® 5 & 6 Headquarters! 100 Years at Newcastle, Ca 800-675-6075 FowlerNurseries.com FowlerNurseries.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER MARCH 15, 2012 33 5 The Only Fan Blade with the "Trailing Edge Wedge" (widens sector angle and increases air velocity) 5 Advanced Flow Design 5 Increased Horsepower 5 LESS FUEL CONSUMPTION 5 Quality Built, Affordable, Fast Payback Returns 1801 Presson Place Yakima, WA 98903 509-248-0318 fax 509-248-0914 hfhauff@gmail.com www.hfhauff.com 100 YEARS Because we offer the QUALITY you expect and deserve! Jim PhiPPs H. F . HA UFF C O M P A N Y I N C . FORD TRITON V-10 or IVECO NEF 6.7 DIESEL Need better performance & coverage? Trial the Chinook blade at our expense! Judge for yourself! Satisfaction Guaranteed!

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