Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/654468
26 MARCH 15, 2016 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com "The thing that we have now is proof of concept," Whiting told Good Fruit Grower. "With that proof of con- cept has come a lot of grower interest." All the growers he worked with on the project asked him to return the following year. A few have purchased their own electrostatic sprayers and plan to do even more pollinating without him, purchasing directly from pollen suppliers. A group of California growers has invited him to visit to discuss his work. "I like the concept," said Denny Hayden, a Pasco, Washington, cherry and apple grower. "We'll see if the idea proves out, but the concept is great." Hayden's biggest frustration with honeybees is weather. Cold or windy weather grounds bees, some- times while the blossoms are at their peak fertility. "You have, in some cases, hours to get the pollen transferred," said Hayden, a former member of the tree fruit research commission. Growers pay anywhere from $40 to $70 per hive each season. Recommendations call for two hives per acre, though most growers use way more to sleep better at night. Hayden has been known to triple that number. Luke Anderson, an orchard manager for Allan Broth- ers, has invited Whiting to try his method on a block of Benton cherries near Mesa, Washington, where he has trouble setting fruit. "If we can even get close to manipulating (pollina- tion) in our favor, I'm not surprised growers are excited," Anderson said. The owner of the pollen company collaborating on the work is just as pumped. "I'll tell you … it works," said Neil McClure, owner of Firman Pollen Co. in Yakima, Washington. The industry, with high-density fruit walls and sci- ence-based methods, is ready for a new method of pollen delivery, McClure said. McClure admits Whiting still has to answer a lot of questions before he proves the technol- ogy is applicable for widespread commercial use, but he believes it's only a matter of time, perhaps 20 or 30 years. "Truly a revolution in growing," he called it. Others are more reserved. "I don't think I'm going out of business any time soon," Eric Olsen, a Yakima commercial beekeeper, quipped during the tree fruit association conference after hearing Whiting speak. Andy Gale, general manager of Stemilt Ag Services, conducted his own 2015 trials with an Arizona spray ven- dor on a hard-to-set block of Bing cherries in Mattawa, Washington. "We really couldn't see the results, to be honest with you," he said, admitting he relied only on "naked eye" perceptions. He plans to try again this year, perhaps taking more precise measurements of fruit set, he said. Background Declining health of honeybee hives has captured national attention, with research funding going to searches for alternative pollinating insects and develop- ment of honeybee forage plants. Education grants send money to high school teachers to conduct bee projects in their classrooms. Meanwhile, growers already have the option of mechanical pollination, applying pollen as dust with puffers they carry by backpack or mount on an all-terrain vehicle. The method is common in the kiwifruit industry, but tree fruit growers such as Stemilt use it, too. Pollen is a hardy substance that will last for years when kept dry and cold. But even McClure of Firman Pollen admitted dusting is inefficient, suited best for targeted supplemental efforts, not the full coverage application Whiting proposes. Meanwhile, pollen is in short supply. Firman cut back about 20 percent this year on its California deliveries, trying to keep Washington at full supply, McClure said. The company sells 2 million grams of pollen a year, for example. If his idea takes off, Whiting envisions a day when growers plant trees just for pollen, creating a whole new industry, and pollinate only the number of blooms they want, eliminating the need for spring and summer thin- ning. In fact, Allan Brothers of Naches, Washington, and Firman have planted pollen-only orchards to experiment with trellising and management systems, according to Whiting's research documents. "The ability to artificially pollinate tree fruit holds the potential to revolutionize crop load management," Whit- ing said in his final report to the Research Commission. "Our vision for precision pollination systems that do not include pollinizers nor pollinators appears plausible. Clearly these results should be considered promising yet preliminary." • "The thing that we have now is proof of concept. With that proof of concept has come a lot of grower interest." —Matt Whiting