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6 MAY 1, 2014 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com Virologist earns national honors D r. Ken Eastwell, director of the Clean Plant Cen- ter-Northwest in Prosser, Washington, has received a national award recognizing his efforts to develop bet- ter methods to detect and eliminate viruses in fruit trees, hops, and grapevines. Eastwell will receive the American Phytopathological Society's Excellence in Regulatory Affairs and Crop Secu- rity Award at the society's annual meeting in Minneapo- lis, Minnesota, in August. He is the third person ever to receive the award. As well as directing the center, he is involved in the identification and control of viruses affecting cherries, apples, and hops, with emphasis on agents that contrib- ute to the decline of cherry orchards. Little cherry dis- ease, which results in small fruit with poor flavor, has become a serious problem in Washington State in recent years. Eastwell earned his doctorate in plant biochemistry from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, in 1981, and worked as a research fellow first at the Uni- versity of California, Davis, and then at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In 1988, he joined Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the Summerland research station in British Columbia, where his lab discovered one of the major viruses that causes little cherry disease (little cherry virus 2). Eastwell managed the little cherry disease control program in British Columbia. He joined Washington State University as research pathologist and director of the National Research Sup- port Project No. 5 in Prosser in 1997. He helped advance the idea of a national virus-testing program and since 2011 has been director and pathologist of the Clean Plant Center-Northwest, part of the National Clean Plant Net- work for specialty crops authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill. Eastwell has adopted a number of methods to improve the speed and efficiency of virus testing. In recent years, he's been exploring the use of deep sequencing as a diagnostic tool. The deep sequencing technology was developed during the human genome project and involves look- ing at the entire nucleic acid contents of the sample and using high-powered computers to sift through the data to identify all viruses present. In comparison, the traditional testing methods—PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)—are specific to one virus. Deep sequencing can even reveal sequences of viruses not known to exist before. Eastwell said the technology used to be very expen- sive, but is becoming more affordable. The technology could enable material to be released much more quickly than traditional testing. Testing protocols are regulated by the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspec- tion Service, so Eastwell and colleagues have been conducting tests and generating data to prove that deep sequencing is a viable alternative to the traditional testing. Van Sickle heads specialty crops group G ary Van Sickle, with more than 45 years' experience in California's soft fruit industry, has been named executive director of the California Specialty Crops Council. Before joining the council, Van Sickle was president of the California Tree Fruit Agreement, which adminis- tered federal marketing orders for peaches, nectarines, and plums. Van Sickle spent 35 years at the Tree Fruit Agreement, working his way through the positions of field director, research director, assistant manager, and ultimately president in 2010. During his years as president, the Tree Fruit Agree- ment's annual budget was approximately $8 million, with $3.5 million spent on international marketing and $500,000 spent on research. In 2012, Van Sickle closed down the programs for the marketing order after growers voted to terminate the program. Van Sickle spent his high school summers packing pears in northern California and worked for the Shipping Point Inspection Service inspecting pears during his col- lege years. He received a bachelor's degree in biology from California State University, Humboldt. The Specialty Crops Council was established in 2000 to bring specialty crop commodity groups together to proactively approach such topics as horticultural pro- duction, pest management, food safety, and steward- ship activities in fruit, root, vegetable, vine, and berry crops. A major objective is to serve as a resource to reg- ulators regarding crop production and pest manage- ment practices and as a liaison to inform the grower community about policy and regulatory issues impact- ing their commodity. Its diverse partnership of Califor- nia organizations includes beekeepers and pest control advisors. University teams up with WAEF C entral Washington University will begin offering $2,500 tuition waivers this fall to students who also receive scholarships from the Washington Apple Edu- cation Foundation, the charity of the state's tree fruit industry. GOOD J OB Industry people in the news. 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 Dr. Ken Eastwell Gary Van Sickle