Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/386317
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER OCTOBER 2014 17 whom had no picking experience. One did and was hired, and he lasted one week. Cherry Bay hired a firm to take care of all the details of applying for and obtaining the H-2A workers. That cost them $1,100 a worker in addition to payment for labor. Free housing and transportation, both locally and from the host country, must be included in the package also. The plus side of that is the workers have no cars, so they stay on the farm and are there to work the next morning. "Everyone on our farm now makes $11.49 an hour," Miezio said. Domestic workers earn that amount. They don't get free housing or free local transportation, but they do get paid their Social Security and are covered by Work- ers Compensation insurance. In total, the change to H-2A and its accom- panying rules increased labor costs from about $15 a box to $19 or $20, Gregory said. "We need to have reliable labor," he added. In the choice between ICE and H-2A, H-2A wins on this farm. —R. Lehnert very little reason to come here," Alpers said. "We're at the northern end. The further north you are, the harder it is to find labor." In addition, all the tart cherry harvest, and most of the sweet cherry harvest, is done using trunk shakers, and has been since the 1960s. "Part of the reason we grow Ginger Golds is that early apples fill the space between cherry harvest and later apples," he said. At Cherry Bay, Gregory said, they diversified into apples to keep key people employed and to use land that was not good for growing cherries. Despite the remoteness of the location as a produc- tion region, it's not remote in other ways. Tourists flock to the area and land values are high, as rich folks gobble up view sites that oversee Lake Michigan, Lake Leelanau, or Grand Traverse Bay. "There are a lot of tourists and a lot of summer cottages," Alpers said. "They come here to relax, and the sound of sprayers at 2:30 in the morning is not relaxing." Partly for that reason, their farm is "MAEAP Verified" under a Michigan program in which the Michigan Depart- ment of Agriculture certifies farms that use good agricul- tural practices and provides a large yard sign that tells everybody the farm does things right. MAEAP stands for Michigan Agricultural Environmental Assurance Program. "It's been a good thing for us," Alpers said. "We try to show everyone that we're here for the long run and want to do things right." Alpers also noted that apple research tends to be oriented to the Ridge, but more and more apple work is being done at the Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center in Traverse City. The station is owned by the growers and leased to Michigan State University, which pays $1 a year for the facilities and provides staff and researchers. The visiting Pomesters spent an entire morning look- ing at research going on there. On the positive side, Alpers said the environment is great for fruit. Not only is Leelanau County a peninsula with water on three sides, but the Manitou Islands, which lie off to the west in Lake Michigan, seem to break up the storms and are a barrier to severe weather. The climate is also great for color development on Honeycrisp, he said. Soils in the area are sandy, even gravelly, with low organic matter and little water-holding capacity, but easy to work except for the stones. The orchards are irri- gated with trickle fertigation systems capable of applying 0.75 inches of water a week and metering out nutrients. Most apples are on the more vigorous M.9 clones or even stronger rootstocks. The block of Gale Gala on Budagovsky 9 rootstocks were on a two-wire trellis with conduit tree support planted on a 3- by 14-foot spacing. The rootstock wasn't the best choice, Alpers said, and the spacing is too wide but fits their existing equipment. The high wires make picking easier. The design is tall spindle, and pruning is the whole- limb removal, renewal method. • Toll Free: 855-855-0318 www.hfhauff.com • hfhauff@gmail.com We've got you COVERED! CALL TODAY for the dealer nearest YOU!