Good Fruit Grower

December 2015

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82 DECEMBER 2015 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com Ken Eastwell will continue to work on little cherry disease after his retirement. by Holly Ferguson D r. Ken Eastwell, Washington State University virologist and director of the Clean Plant Center Northwest, which he created, is retiring in January. Eastwell, a native of Alberta, Canada, developed an interest in plant disease viruses while pursuing his doctorate in biochemistry, which he received in 1981 at the University of Alberta. His career in plant disease virology spans 34 years, beginning with a postdoctoral position at the University of California, Davis. From 1984 to 1988, he continued his virus research at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. From 1988 to 1997, he directed the little cherry disease control program at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Center in Summerland, British Columbia, and was a board member of the B.C. Certified Budwood Society. In addition, he investigated biocontrol strategies for crown gall disease in grapes and a virus that infects apple codling moth. In 1997, he succeeded retiring tree fruit virus specialist Dr. Gaylord Mink, a t W S U ' s I r r i g a t e d A g r i c u l t u r e Research and Extension Center in Prosser. At WSU, Eastwell quickly went to work to develop a program to detect, identify, and eliminate viruses and other disease agents of fruit trees and grapevines. He continued his work on crown gall disease and took on additional administrative duties, managing the federally funded clean plant foundation program for fruit trees, then known as the National Research Support Project 5 (NRSP-005). This program develops and distributes virus-tested fruit trees to researchers and growers within the United States. Plant materials brought into the program come from foreign or domestic sources. They are propagated and maintained in greenhouses and tested for the presence of disease agents. Once they are deemed free of these pathogens, they are made available to tree fruit growers. All new introductions WSU virologist retires 1401 Hathaway • Yakima, WA 98902 • Fax: 509-453-0592 509-575-0934 • mgwagnerroofing.com NOW SCHEDULING WORK FOR 2016 M.G. Wagner Co., Inc. R O O F I N G S P E C I A L I S T S Serving Central Washington for Over 75 Years • SERVING THE FRUIT AND FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES • DESIGN AND CONSULTING SERVICES • ROOF INSPECTION AND ESTIMATES AVAILABLE REFERENCES AVAILABLE The Climate Stress Solution Anti-Stress 550® Improve Crop & Plant Performance During: Anti-Stress 550® is applied as a foliar spray to insulate plants from weather related stressors Frost & Freeze • Drying Winds Water Stress • Transplanting High Temperatures 800.678.7377 • customerservice@polymerag.com • www.polymerag.com Helping Growers for Over 25 Years

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