Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/450509
www.goodfruit.com Good Fruit Grower FEBRUARY 1, 2015 23 WIND MACHINES— The standard by which all others are measured We've been farming for 3 generations, and for 30 years we've been exclusively tree fruit. About 4 years ago we put in our first Orchards Rite ® frost fan and have since added 2 more. Before we put in these machines, we never had a full crop in the valley acreage, where we typically will be around 25-28 degrees on some nights. With these machines we've been able to pick up 7 to 8 degrees with a good strong inversion layer. Since we put in these machines, we've had a full crop most years. We've had apples when some of the neighbors didn't have any. When we're ready, we'll certainly be going back to Orchard Rite ® to add new machines. We're a firm believer in them!" Mike VanAgtmael VanAgtmael Orchards Hart, Michigan We farm 150 acres of Pistachios at an elevation of 4,500 feet. In February, we put in nine Orchard Rite ® Wind Machines and in April our temperatures dropped to as low as 25 and 26 degrees on three different nights. I'm sure we would have lost 80% of our crop this spring without our wind machines. They lit- erally paid for themselves in one year. We like the Ford V-10 engine with the auto start option and have found with a good inversion we can consistently bring the temperature up 3-5 degrees, sometimes even 7 degrees. It's a no brainer to use wind machines in this part of the country. Almost all of the Pistachio farmers in our area use Orchard Rite ® Wind Machines. When it comes to frost pro- tection, I don't know of anything that performs as well as wind machines. Don Fortman Wilcox, AZ Let us help you solve your unique frost control needs. ® They paid for themselves in one year We've been able to pick up 7 to 8 degrees with a good inversion layer 1615 W. Ahtanum • Yakima, WA 98903 • 509-248-8785, ext. 612 For the representative nearest you, visit our website: www.orchard-rite.com industry is such a good-old-boys' club that I figured it'd be great to have another woman." Kock graduated from WSU's viticulture and enology program in 2004. The infant program, offered through WSU Tri-Cities, graduated three that year. When Kock, now 54, enrolled in WSU's new program, she was looking to return to agriculture. Extension career She'd been active in 4-H and FFA while growing up in northern California and wanted to be an extension agent. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees from University of Nevada, Reno, and worked for three years in the county extension office in The Dalles, Oregon. During that time, she married Scott "Bill" Kock and they formed S-J Cattle Company, raising cattle and farming wheat. But because Bill's mother also worked for exten- sion, she changed jobs to be human resource specialist at an aluminum plant in Goldendale, Washington. In 1998, nine years into their marriage, her husband died in a farming accident. "That blew up my agriculture lifestyle," she said, adding that feeding and calving out cows and farming wheat was not something she could do alone. Another whammy hit when skyrocketing energy costs collapsed the aluminum industry in 2003 and she lost her job. Kock wanted to get back to agriculture and saw oppor- tunities in Washington's growing wine industry. She dis- covered WSU's new wine program while searching the Internet. "WSU's new viticulture and enology program at Tri-Cities was close to home, and I could commute rather than move to Corvallis to attend Oregon State University," she said. She was able to finish the program in two years because of her previous education. From her animal science and cattle days, Kock was used to being the lone female at industry meetings. Miguel Zambrano sorts green material out from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes during harvest at Klipsun Vineyards.