Good Fruit Grower

July 2016

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www.goodfruit.com Good Fruit Grower JULY 2016 17 Tough hurdles While supermarkets are interested in new varieties, they also want fruit throughout the season, he said. "We still have gaps in many fruit types; we don't have it all covered." That's true, says Boyertown, Pennsylvania, fruit grower Ben Keim of Keim Orchard. The early season finds Eastern peach growers selling semi-cling peaches to retailers and farm markets. "We don't start wholesaling until the last week of July. By that time, consumers are looking for freestone fruit," he said. That's because California growers begin shipping semi-free and semi-cling peaches into the Mid-Atlantic markets. Keim said he'd like to have some early-season varieties to compete with the California produce, especially a freestone variety. In the meantime, the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council, for which Frecon is a consultant, is pursuing a strategy of familiarizing consumers with peach varieties in their seasons. "If peaches were identified by variety, we can get more shelf space," said Frecon. However, this is a much tougher marketing problem than it seems. Experience shows supermarkets are not prone to devote extra space to peaches when they have several varieties on hand with different names but similar characteristics. For example, in late July and early August, they'll have Redhavens, JonBoys and Redstars for sale at the same time and give them the same shelf space because they look alike and can be mixed together. Not surprisingly, tradition is another obstacle. The problem with Northeastern peaches — unlike apples — is that they enter the market and are sold for about 10 to 12 weeks throughout the summer, after which growers and supermarkets move on to the next fruit type. So what's the incentive for supermarkets to sell peaches by varietal names? Not much, considering the fierce competition from other regions and other varieties of fruits and vegetables. So, what's going to move supermarkets in the direction the promotion council wants them to go? "We need fruit with profoundly different colors, shapes and flavors," Frecon said. One possibility is so-called "neat peaches" or peaches that can be snacked on without the juice squirting all over clothing. "Some people will not eat peaches as a snack because they are too juicy and messy," he said. • Courtesy Jerry FreCon This test variety ripens in the early midseason and is one of the new, red-skinned, yellow-fleshed peaches developed by Rutgers University's fruit breeding program in Cream Ridge, New Jersey. ORSat™ is a custom designed satellite communication network and service for managing, operation and monitoring of wind machines. ORSat™ allows growers to monitor and control wind machines, fuel tanks, and weather stations with just a few simple steps, via an Internet enabled device, and is the only solution available that integrates with the Orchard-Rite® Auto-Start. The overall goal of the ORSat™ system is to partner with growers to make frost protection more effi cient, economical & eff ective than ever before. We operate 14 wind machines on 325 acres of apples and cherries spread out over 3 miles. In the past it was diffi cult to confi rm that our wind machines started, ran, and shut down appropriately during the course of a cold night. The ORSat System changed all that. Now we have the ability to start and stop our machines remotely, saving us money on fuel, labor and maintenance. ORSat also notifi es us when the machines are starting and stopping via the Auto-Start, and warns us of any problems. The ORSat System gives us yet another layer of protection above and beyond the Auto-Start and the Wind Machines themselves. " It provides us peace of mind on long, cold nights." "ORSat puts frost protection at our fi ngertips." --Marcus & John Griggs 1611 W Ahtanum Union Gap WA 98903 Phone: (509) 457-9196 3766 Iroquois Wenatchee WA 98801 Phone:(509) 662-2753 ORSat ™ -- another innovative product from Orchard-Rite ® Winning the Battle Against Fire Blight ...and conventional wisdom Scan here for full study 1.888.273.3088 (toll-free) www.biosafesystems.com In 2014, OxiDate 2.0 was evaluated against FireLine, a traditional treatment against Fire Blight. The results showed an average of 389 strikes per tree against control plots; the FireLine Cluster had 227 strikes and OxiDate 2.0 showed a 40% reduction overall and 18 less strikes than the conventional, FireLine treatment. At BioSafe, we aren't just the sustainable alternative to conventional chemicals, we are the sustainable and effective preference to conventional.

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