Good Fruit Grower

46 MAY 15, 2017 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com LAST BITE More Young Growers at goodfruit.com/yg Glade Brosi grower / Wenatchee, Washington age / 35 crops / New varieties, crop and postharvest special projects business / Research and development manager, Stemilt Growers family background / Glade is originally from Kentucky and joined Stemilt in 2011 with a graduate degree in plant and soil sciences. He's been leading several postharvest trials, developing storage protocols and working with researchers on topics such as food safety, little cherry disease and new varieties. " " " " " Why did you pursue agriculture? As a family we celebrated food — it was the central focus of my family's togetherness. I always wanted to study agriculture in school, specifi cally production agriculture. I wanted to till the soil, to work on tractors, to become a farmer. When I was 23 years old, I broke my leg pretty badly, and I realized I didn't have any land and I didn't want to rely on solely on my body for working. When that happened, I returned to college and earned a master's degree in plant and soil sciences. How did you get your start? I moved to Wenatchee looking for work, and I got an entry level seasonal cherry job with Stemilt because I really wanted to get my foot in the door there. I was willing to take a job that was well beneath what I was worth at fi rst to say that I can add value and I'm worth listening to. I want to be part of this team because I love this industry. What changes have you seen in postharvest research? Today, there's a lot less disconnect between the fi eld and the warehouse; there can't be a disconnect there anymore. When you look at organic Honeycrisp specifi cally, it's a very diffi cult variety to store. What you realize very clearly is what hap- pens in the fi eld has a tremendous effect on what happens postharvest. So those two groups — from fi eld to warehouse — need to cooperate, talk and be aligned with the goals. What excites you about your job? With postharvest, you can extend the shelf life for some- thing and make the grower a lot more money. Or you can reduce a defect, you can increase packouts, and what you're doing is putting money back into the orchard, back to the grower. That's one part of postharvest that I love. What would you tell young growers about this industry? Most young people who are interested in agriculture are interested in being producers. That's the most recog- nizable part of the industry. They want to be on the ground producing apples, pears, cherries and tree fruit — and so did I. I wanted to be a farmer, however I realized the actual production itself is just one part of the whole industry. What I tell young people all the time is to fi nd your own niche. Don't put yourself in a category and be unwilling to look outside of it. There's tremendous value in all parts of this industry — from quality assurance, quality control, research and development, production and all aspects of this industry. " My goal is to build relationships that help researchers achieve their scienti�ic goals. 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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