Good Fruit Grower

June 1

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QUICK BITES Read more Quick Bites at www.goodfruit.com. Marketing Association, has added a new set of duties. He will take over the lead role at the Premier Apple Cooperative in June when Albion, New York, apple grower George Lamont retires. "George has been running it since its inception in 2000, and he wants to retire," Dodd said. Premier is an organization of about 100 apple packers in eight eastern states organized under rules governing co-op B cooperatives that allow them to share information, Dodd said. The main activities are gathering and sharing information through conference calls. "We talk about apple supplies and weather events," Dodd said. "We talk about the U.S. Apple Association's monthly storage reports and price information from the Market News Service. Dodd is also owner of Dodd's Hillcrest Orchards, a 90-acre farm near Amherst, Ohio, he operates with his wife and two children. The farm produces apples, pumpkins, and peaches, operates a retail market, and offers pick-your-own apples as well as entertainment features such as a corn maze. Foundation elects officers B rian Alegria, chief executive officer of CPC Interna- tional Apple Company in Tieton, Washington, has been elected chair of the Washington Apple Education Foundation to succeed Berti Stewart. Other officers elected during the foundation's annual meeting on May 1 were: Vice chair—Miles Kohl, chief executive officer of Allan Brothers, Naches; secretary— Jeff Fagg, vice president and account manager for North- west Farm Credit Services, Moses Lake; and treasurer—Stan Scheumann, controller at Auvil Fruit Company, Orondo. New board members, elected for three-year terms, are Kailan Dunn, Jr., from Banner Bank, Yakima, and David Millheisler, chief financial officer of Stemilt Growers, Inc., Wenatchee. The foundation honored retiring board members Roger Strand of Cowiche, Tim Mowry of Wenatchee, and Bruce Frazier of Wapato. Strand had served on the board since its incorporation in 1994 and was the first chair from 1994-1996. For information about the foundation, check the Web site at www.waef.org. Washington wine has big impact R esults of a new economic study commissioned by Washington State's wine industry puts the value of the wine industry at $8.6 billion annually in the state and $14.9 billion annually in the United States. The findings in the report, the most comprehensive to date, show a sub- stantial increase from a similar study done in 2007 that valued the industry at $3 billion in-state and $4.7 billion for the nation. Licensed wineries in the state have grown from 360 in 2005 to more than 700, and growers have added more than 13,000 acres of wine grapes during this time. The most recent acreage survey, released last year, pegs the state wine grape acreage at 43,000 acres, up from 30,000 acres in 2005. Washington Wine Commission Executive Director Steve Warner said in a statement, "This report shows that Washington State wine is a vibrant and thriving contributor to the regional and national economies." The study found that the industry supports about 30,000 jobs in the state and more than 70,000 jobs www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER JUNE 2012 41 nationally, with wages of nearly $1.2 billion and $2.8 bil- lion, respectively. Of importance to local and the state economy, the industry generates more than $237 million in annual tax revenue and pays nearly $1.4 billion in taxes across the country. And for the first time, the study provides a snapshot of the industry's economic impact at the county level. King County, which surrounds Seattle, has the largest Dodd to head apple ill Dodd, the Ohio fruit grower who heads the Ohio Apple Marketing Program and the Ohio Fruit Growers Bill Dodd concentration of wine-related activity—more than $3.3 billion annually. Other county totals include Benton, $927 million annually; Yakima, $527 million annually; and Walla Walla, $502 million annually. The complete study, conducted by Stonebridge Research based in St. Helens, California, can be found at www.washingtonwine.org. LIVE endorsement T he International Organization for Biological Control of Noxious Plants and Animals, known as IOBC, recently awarded its international endorsement to a Pacific Northwest-based sustainable vineyard and winery certification program. The Low Input Viticulture and Enology, or LIVE, program, headquartered in Salem, Ore- gon, has more than 25,000 vineyard and farm acres from Oregon and Washington enrolled. LIVE producers must complete two years of member- ship following LIVE standards that limit raw material inputs in the vineyard and winery including fertilizer, pesticides, water, chemicals, and fuel before achieving certification. Members must undergo third-party inspections to verify their practices. Each year, LIVE must apply for endorsement by the IOBC to continue operating under IOBC standards of sus- tainable wine grape growing. The international endorse- ment also means LIVE is in compliance with GlobalGap standards. For vineyard and winery members, LIVE certification includes certification with Salmon Safe.

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