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www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER OCTOBER 2014 7 Merger brings end to Growers Clearing House, Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association. by Geraldine Warner T wo long-established tree fruit organizations closed their doors at the end of August and merged into the new Washington State Tree Fruit Association. Neither the Washington Growers Clearing House Association nor the Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association will have staff working with the new associa- tion. Two staff members at the Yakima Val- ley Growers-Shippers Association, Tracy Morrill (data analyst) and Jayme Smith (data analyst and office manager), trans- ferred to the new association with Jon DeVaney as executive director. The Washington State Horticultural Association will not merge with the others until after its annual meeting in December. Clearing House Kirk Mayer, manager of the Growers Clearing House, retired after 41 years with the association. He had been manager since 1997. Dan Kelly, assistant manager of the Clearing House since 1997, and CleAnn Goodell, bookkeeper, were not offered jobs with the new entity. Mem- bership assistant Charlotte Randolph opted to retire. The Clearing House was founded in 1941. It published a weekly "yellow sheet" bulletin showing fruit prices and move- ment that it sent to about 2,000 grower members and industry people. 8VEJ½G%WWSGMEXMSR Charlie Pomianek, manager of the Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association, also retired, as did his assistant Pat Wheeler. Pomianek, a former stockbro- ker, had managed the association since 1992. The organization was formed in 1917 primarily to track shipments of apples from the orchard to market and track shipper inventories. The association also negotiated contracts for rail cars to ship the fruit. When Pomianek joined the associ- ation, there were about 60 fruit ware- houses in the Wenatchee district as well as more than 20 marketing entities that were members. Today, because of consolidation, there are only about 20 packers in north central Washington, and the association had 38 voting members when it closed down. "Change is tough," Pomianek said, "But change is good. I think with the issues that the industry's going to deal with, a better, statewide, coordinated effort will pay dividends. There's going to be some stops and starts and sputters going forward, but it's a new day, and it's going to be a new team." Pomianek urged growers and packers to be involved in the new organization and make their needs known. "They're going to have to be proactive versus reactive going forward. I think that's real important because the new organi- zation will have to reflect the member- ship, and the membership will have to be engaged." • Tree fruit groups close Learn more at AzakaFungicide.com ůǁĂLJƐƌĞĂĚĂŶĚĨŽůůŽǁůĂďĞůĚŝƌĞĐƟŽŶƐ͘ ©2014 Cheminova, Inc. AZAKA is a trademark of Cheminova, Inc. Abound is a trademark of a Syngenta Group Company. Now you have a choice. An Azoxystrobin alternative to Abound ® Fungicide New AZAKA™ Fungicide from Cheminova helps your fungicide dollar go further. AZAKA ƉƌŽǀŝĚĞƐĂĐƟǀŝƚLJŽŶĂůůĨŽƵƌŐƌŽƵƉƐŽĨĨƵŶŐŝĨŽƌďƌŽĂĚƐƉĞĐƚƌƵŵĚŝƐĞĂƐĞĐŽŶƚƌŽů͘ Having manufactured azoxystrobin-based fungicides globally since 2011, Cheminova backs AZAKAǁŝƚŚŝƚƐŽǁŶŵĂŶƵĨĂĐƚƵƌŝŶŐĨĂĐŝůŝƟĞƐĂŶĚƉƌŽĐĞƐƐĞƐƚŽĚĞůŝǀĞƌĐŽŶƐŝƐƚĞŶƚƉƌŽĚƵĐƚ performance you can depend on. "A better, state- wide, coordinated effort will pay dividends." —Charlie Pomianek