Good Fruit Grower

46 APRIL 15, 2017 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com LAST BITE More Young Growers at goodfruit.com/yg Kelsey Twitchell grower / Dryden, Washington age / 28 crops / Pears business / Pearmount Inc. family background / Kelsey's family farm is nestled in the hills of Washington's upper Wenatchee Valley, where they grow fresh market pears. She studied agricultural economics at Washington State University and is one of four daughters of Terry and Kerry Twitchell. " " " " How did you get your start? I grew up in the orchard, especially in the mud. I was always curi- ous and loved climbing trees, hiking and being out there. Dad would come in for lunch on his lunch break and I'd always want to go back out in the fi eld with him. My fi rst job was to clean sprinkler valves, getting all the mud and leaves out. I just thought he was giving me the dirty, bottom-of-the-line job. What I didn't realize was dad was teaching me about the water system. He wanted me to learn where all the valves were at, so I knew how they worked and where the water was coming from. It's a job I still enjoy doing to this day. How did you learn about pursuing ag in college? I didn't know what I wanted to do exactly, but whatever it was, I wanted it to be in agriculture. One of the school counselors suggested I go into ag economics. I jumped into it not knowing what I was going to get out of it. I ended up liking the manage- ment classes; however I fi gured out I wasn't going to be doing the data mining part of the job, sitting at a desk. It was going to drive me crazy. What changes to the farm are you hoping for? A lot of the pear plantings in the area are very old. The area is known by other growers as the valley of the dinosaur trees. I am interested in the new dwarfi ng pear rootstocks and when researchers get that nailed down, I believe that it will really change the pear industry. If we were going to make a change it would be because of the dwarfi ng rootstock. Combine that with switching to high density where we might be able to pick more per acre. If recent developments show promise, that's where I would step in as the next generation to change the farm. What would you tell younger growers? Our 100-acre orchard is a lot of work, so I'd tell young growers to keep sticking with it. If farming is something that you're interested in and is something you like to do, keep going at it. You'll get into a rhythm and you'll adjust to the seasonal patterns. If you have that want and that drive, just keep pushing through when you get tired. The reward in being a farmer is you can sit down at the end of each day and see your progress. " I love the full swing of harvest and then before I know it, it's winter, then spring, and I do it all over again. PLAY goodfruit.com/yg scan to watch the interview www.gslong.com SPONSORED BY by TJ Mullinax More from this interview and other Young Growers at goodfruit.com/yg.

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