Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/751050
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER DECEMBER 2016 17 curious, walk the orchard regularly, and can look at a problem through multiple lenses. They excel at mobilizing and exciting Spanish- speaking workers and are clear about the tasks to be accomplished, yet know when to change direction. They can see when a new pruning practice will be profitable and convert it to a new horticultural management tool. They can spot an unmet need and change course to go after a bigger profit and more comfortable working conditions for Spanish-speaking orchard workers. As their teams pursue new labor goals (more bins of high quality fruit per person per day when harvesting) and strive to achieve this or other milestones, they have a clear view of what is in or out of alignment in terms of skills and capabilities, compensation, communi- cation, how workers are collaborating and behaving. Cornell program for Spanish-speakers Five years ago, Cornell University began offering a lecture series to Spanish-speaking farm employees to meet a need for basic training in horticulture and pest management. Topics covered the first year included the life cycle of an apple tree, pruning of vertical axe and tall spindle systems and quality grading of apples. Subsequent workshops have addressed tool care, preventing common injuries, tree and crop load management, rootstocks, cutting fire blight damage from an orchard, recognizing pests and using traps and entrepreneurship. This year, the fruit schools for Spanish speakers were held at two farms in New York's Orleans and Wayne counties, rather than extension offices, with hands-on pruning time in an orchard. In addition, Cornell organized the first fruit summer tour last year for Spanish- speaking employees in the Northeast and held a second such tour this year. Those tours have established some com- mon ground and a networking system for Latinos in the Western New York fruit indus- try. Participants, who were surveyed this year, rated the value and quality of the presenta- tions very highly. When asked to cite the most valuable things learned in the 2016 school, responses included: —I learned to recognize a vegetative bud from a floral bud. —The importance of irrigation in high den- sity plantings. —Why pest management is so critical for fruit quality. —The concept of biennial bearing. —How precision pruning can improve fruit size. Several participants in this group have attended at least three of the five schools offered in the region, and several of them are now more familiar with the new concepts. The success and future of Cornell's Spanish-speaking program is promising. The preliminary results — increased interest and attendance, perceived level of knowledge gained and the request for more applied technical training — build a case for devel- oping additional curriculum or modules in horticulture, business, leadership and pest management in the near future. It's a model that could be used elsewhere. • Mario Miranda Sazo is an extension asso- ciate who specializes in orchard management and orchard mechanization with the Lake Ontario Fruit Program, Cornell University Cooperative Extension. A version of this col- umn previously appeared in New York Fruit Quarterly and the Small Farm Quarterly of Cornell University. This article is reprinted in Spanish on Pages 20-21. COURTESY MATT WELLS/CORNELL COOPERATIVE EXTENSION Participants who attended the 2016 Hispanic Summer Fruit Tour heard a presentation from Mario Miranda Sazo (right), Cornell Cooperative Extension fruit specialist, and Juan Pascal (left), a VanDeWalle Fruit Farm employee with 30 years of nursery experience, on feathering and tree growing techniques near Alton, New York. COURTESY MARIO MIRANDA SAZO Mario Miranda Sazo explains to Hispanic employees how to differentiate floral and vegetative buds.