Good Fruit Grower

April 1

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14 APRIL 1, 2014 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com A pplied research projects that Washington State University extension educator Tim Smith has worked on have returned billions of dollars to the state's tree fruit industry. For example, in the 1980s, when Smith joined Extension, it was known that when an orchard was replanted, the trees didn't grow as well as a new orchard on virgin ground. The standard practice was to dig a planting hole 18 to 22 inches wide and 3 feet deep and put new soil in it, but trees still struggled to grow and crop. It had already been discovered that fumigation could overcome replant disease. Smith's accomplishment was in convincing the industry to use it. He did trials showing that broadcast fumigation of the ground before planting could dramatically improve the growth and productivity of a new orchard. He estimates that fumigation can boost yields by a third and notes that the additional yield is all money back in the grower's pockets, assuming the other two-thirds have covered growing costs. He estimates that in the past 30 years, 60,000 to 70,000 acres of orchard have been planted in fumigated ground, representing an additional $1.8 billion return to growers. About 65 percent of the acreage being replanted nowa- days is fumigated, up from only 5 percent three decades ago. Fire blight Another major focus of Smith's work has been the pear and apple disease fire blight. Every three years, Smith participates in the International Society of Horticultural Science's international fire blight work- shop. Smith said this has helped him stay current and contribute to the understanding of the disease. As well as testing controls for fire blight, he developed CougarBlight, a computer model that helps growers pre- dict the best time to apply controls. The model is widely used in Washington and elsewhere. 'LIVV]JVYMX¾] Though Smith identifies himself as a pathologist, he's also tackled insect pests, such as cherry fruit fly, which is a serious quarantine pest for cherries shipped to Cal- ifornia. He began testing alternatives to the standard organophosphate insecticides and found several that would work, including spinosad. He was one of the first to test the GF 120 bait (whose active ingredient is spi- nosad) against cherry fruit fly. Since there's no tolerance for the pest in commercial orchards, there were no com- mercial populations to try it out on, so he and his tech- nician Esteban Gutierrez tested it on the most heavily infested backyard trees they could find. Unlike traditional pesticides, the bait is not sprayed on the whole tree. Smith and Gutierrez used a squirt bot- tle to apply it in their tests. "It seemed so silly to put 12 to 15 squirts on a tree and expect that to control 6,000 flies on the tree," Smith said. "But, lo and behold, there were no larvae in the fruit. The flies were dying before they laid eggs. Needless to say, that got our attention fast." Smith continued to get good results in tests and got the growers' attention with talks and demonstrations. Soon, growers were cruising through their orchards on ATVs, squirting the bait and controlling the fly with a minimal amount of pesticide. It became the most-used material on cherries. Smith estimates that it saved cherry growers $10 million in spray costs over a five-year period. Then, a new pest showed up. Washington's apple industry has saved millions of dollars by following Tim Smith's advice to fumigate the ground before replanting. PHOTO BY GERALDINE WARNER Orchard Proven, University Tested 610 Central Avenue Billings, MT 59102 (406) 248-5856 1-800-735-5323 www.scentry.com Bee-Scent research data obtained from Dr. Dan Mayer, Washington State University For more information, call 1-800-735-5323 or visit www.scentry.com. Bee-Scent's natural, non-toxic pheromone ingredient induces the foraging behavior in honey bees, increasing the number of bee-to-blossom visits at each tree. The result is a higher percentage of blossom set and increased fruit yields. • Increase Fruit Set on Pears, Cherries and Braeburn Apples! • Increase Size Potential of Gala Apples by Increasing the Seed Complement! • Conforms to National Organic Program Standards • WSDA Organic Certifi ed Growers benefit from Smith's work Tim Smith's research has put money back in growers' pockets. by Geraldine Warner "Lo and behold, there were no larvae in the fruit. Needless to say, that got our attention fast." —Tim Smith

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