Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/560612
14 SEPTEMBER 2015 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com S temilt Ag Services, which has orchards at Othello in Washington's Columbia Basin, has found advantages to having row crop farmers as neighbors. When an orchard is removed, row crops are planted for a couple of years in order to improve the soil and mitigate replant disease. For example, at its Saddle Mountain West orchard, Stemilt took out four blocks of old Golden Delicious trees in 2010. Dale Goldy, assistant general manager, said the trees were vigorous and out of control, and not producing quality fruit, so the company decided that the best option was to remove them, rather than try to rehabilitate the orchard. The ground was cultivated to row crops, such as wheat and beans, for one to three years before replanting to Honeycrisp and Fuji. "That's been a real benefit of these plantings—being able to take the time and having neighbors in this area who are willing to farm them, because we're not row crop people," said Goldy, who picked up the idea from contacts in Michigan, where the practice is common. However, in Washington's Columbia Basin, where farmers typically grow crops in 130-acre circles, he's found it can be difficult to find someone willing to farm a 25-acre block with wheel lines. The trees in the replanted blocks are planted on a 4-by-12-foot spacing and trained to a tall spindle system. The Honeycrisp are on Bud 118 rootstock and Fuji are on Pajam 2. ROW CROPS prepare ground for replanting IFTA Washington State study tour Pushing Fuji trees too hard can result in blind wood. by Geraldine Warner Ramiro Avilez takes photos of Honeycrisp at the Saddle Mountain West Stemilt block. S T O R A G E C O N T R O L S Y S T E M S MICHIGAN · WASHINGTON · 800.887.7994 · STORAGECONTROL.COM A T T E N T I O N D C A U S E R S USE HARVESTWATCH? EXPERIMENTING WITH DCA? Senzytec2 is a biosensor system that quickly and simply measures the production of ethanol as a result of stressing your fruit when experimenting with DCA. e operator can easily test for and verify fermentative processes taking place during dierent storage conditions at very low levels (less than 50 ppm) with no sample pre-treatment required, and see results in under 5 minutes. Developed and tested at an agricultural research institute in Italy, the Senzytec2 is now available for both sales and service in North America through SCS. Contact us today for more information!