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IFTA presents industry honors C anadian orchardists David Geen and Sam DiMaria were named Outstanding Growers of the Year by the International Fruit Tree Association at its annual meeting in Kelowna, British Columbia, in February. Geen owns Coral Beach Farms, near Kelowna, where he has 400 acres of cherries, making him the biggest cherry grower in Canada.. Geen has been on the lead- ing edge of horticulture and management techniques, always with an emphasis on producing high-quality cherries with green stems, according to the IFTA. DiMaria and his wife, Patti, grow 44 acres of apples, table grapes, and pears in Kelowna. He has been polit- ically active in the B.C. tree fruit industry, was a found- ing board member of the Okanagan Plant Improvement Company, and has been on the IFTA board for nine years. Extension award P lant pathologist and consultant Dr. Bill McPhee received the Outstanding Extension Award for his work in helping the B.C. tree fruit industry manage fruit diseases. McPhee earned a doctorate from the University of Alberta, and in 1978 was appointed postharvest pathol- ogist at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre in Sum- merland. After six years, he left to do extension work with the Okanagan-Similkameen Cooperative. In 1996, he went to work for Pace International based in Seat- tle, Washington, and in 2004 joined the Okanagan Tree Fruits Cooperative's extension service. He now owns a consulting business called Canadian Agricultural Service and in recent years has worked mainly on management of apple replant disease and soil-related problems. Research award Drs. Gerry and Denise Neilsen, soil scientists with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, received the Out- standing Researcher Award. The couple met while studying for their masters' degrees at Queen's University in Ontario, and earned their doctorates at McGill Uni- versity in Montreal. They have worked at the Summer- land research station since 1978, focusing on precision management of water and nutrients for perennial crops. WSU appoints physiologist D r. Lee Kalcsits has joined Wash- ington State University as a tree fruit physiologist based at the Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee. He plans to study nutri- tional problems and effects of water and heat stress in tree fruit production. The position opened following the recent retirements of Drs. Larry Schrader and Don Elfving. Before moving to Wen- atchee, Kalcsits did postdoc- toral research in treephysiology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Kalcsits grew up in Sas- katchewan, Canada, where his parents had a small fruit farm, producing berries and a few tree fruits. He earned a bachelor's degree in horticulture and master's degree in plant sciences from the University of Saskatchewan, and worked with the university's apple breeding program for a couple of summers. He earned a doctorate in forestry, with an emphasis on tree ecophysiology, from the Uni- versity of British Columbia, Vancouver, last year. He has worked and published on the physiology of dormancy induction and on the partitioning of nitrogen assimilates in trees and other plants. Kalcsits said he is working closely with two other new WSU recruits—horticulturist Dr. Stefano Musacchi and tree fruit extension leader Dr. Des Layne. He is partic- ularly interested in exploring water use efficiency, the uptake of nutrients from the soil, and the influence of environmental factors. He said the position provides him with an opportunity to apply basic physiological research to address production problems in the tree fruit industry. Announcing the appointment, Dr. Rick Knowles, chair of WSU's horticulture department, said Kalcsits would develop a robust basic and applied research program in the general area of physiology of tree fruits in collabora- tion with the tree fruit research and extension team and industry. "He brings novel expertise that complements our existing strengths in tree fruit physiology," Knowles said. Nicholson heads Clearing House board D ennis Nicholson of Peshastin has been elected pres- ident of the Washington Growers Clearing House Association for a two-year term to succeed Scott Dorsing of Royal City. Sam Godwin is vice president, and manager Kirk Mayer has been elected secretary/treasurer. The elections took place during the Clearing House's annual meeting in February. Dorsing received the Golden Apple Award in appreciation of his services as president for the past two years. Anderson joins Northwest Fruit Exporters D avid Anderson, formerly international trade special- ist with the Washington State Department of Agricul- ture, has been appointed assistant manager of Northwest Fruit Exporters, based in Yakima. He succeeds Fred Scarlett, who was promoted to man- ager when Jim Archer retired at the end of 2013. Anderson had been with the Department of Agricul- ture since 2008 and was based at the Washington State Fruit Commission's offices in Yakima. He is fluent in Jap- anese and has lived and worked in Japan. Anderson has a bachelor's degree in Japanese stud- ies from Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, and a master's degree in international business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Glendale, Arizona. www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER APRIL 1, 2014 7 g r o w i n g w i t h g r o w e r s s i n c e 1 9 4 6 Managing Editor Casey Corr casey.corr@goodfruit.com • 509-853-3512 Editor Geraldine Warner gwarner@goodfruit.com • 509-665-3330 Associate Editors Melissa Hansen mhansen@goodfruit.com • 509-968-3922 Richard Lehnert lehnert@goodfruit.com • 616-984-6001 Advertising Manager Doug Button dbutton@goodfruit.com • 509-853-3514 Advertising Sales Rick Larsen rick@goodfruit.com • 509-853-3517 Theresa Currell theresa@goodfruit.com • 509-853-3516 Production Manager Nancy Jo Born nancyb@goodfruit.com • 509-853-3513 Digital Producer TJ Mullinax tj@goodfruit.com • 509-853-3519 Page Designer Aurora Lee aurora@goodfruit.com • 509-853-3518 Circulation Maria Fernandez maria@goodfruit.com • 509-853-3515 Advisory Board Lindsay Hainstock, Denny Hayden, Steve Hoying, Jim Kelley, Desmond Layne, Jim McFerson, Ian Merwin, Don Olmstead, Mercy Olmstead, Marvin Owings, Mark Roy, Vicky Scharlau, Mark Tudor, Chris Van Well, Mike Wittenbach U.S. SUBSCRIPTIONS: $35.00 per year, 3 years $75.00. CANADIAN SUBSCRIPTIONS: $55.00 per year (U.S. funds, Canadian G.S.T. included: G.S.T. Registration #135100949). SUBSCRIPTIONS OUTSIDE U.S.A. & CANADA: $100.00 per year (payment by credit card only). WASHINGTON STATE GROWER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $2.00 per year to deciduous tree fruit growers in the state of Washington who pay assessments on commercially shipped fruit, either to the Washington State Fruit Commission or to the Washington Apple Commission. Back issues are not available. Single copies of current issues are $5.00. To subscribe, call 1-800-487-9946. Good Fruit Grower (ISSN 0046-6174) is published semi-monthly January through May, and monthly June through December, by the Washington State Fruit Commission, 105 South 18th Street, Suite 205, Yakima, WA 98901-2149. Periodical postage paid at Yakima, WA, and additional offices. Publications Mail Agreement No. 1795279. The publication of any advertisement is not to be construed as an endorsement by the Washington State Fruit Commission or Good Fruit Grower magazine of the product or service offered, unless it is specifically stated in the advertisement that there is such approval or endorsement. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Good Fruit Grower, 105 South 18th Street, Suite 217, Yakima, WA 98901-2177. © 2014 by Good Fruit Grower Printed in U.S.A. 105 S. 18th St., #217, Yakima, WA 98901 509 ⁄ 853-3520, 1-800-487-9946, Fax 509 ⁄853-3521 E-mail: growing@goodfruit.com www.goodfruit.com GOOD J OB Industry people in the news. Sam DiMaria David Geen David Anderson Bill McPhee Denise Neilsen Gerry Neilsen