December 20, 2022

New Articles/Meetings

• Honeycrisp Internal Browning Survey 2022

• 2023 Northwest Michigan Orchard and Vineyard Show - Tentative Agenda

Upcoming Events

• 2023 NW Michigan Orchard and Vineyard Show - Jan. 17-18, 2023

• U.S. Fire Blight Management Workshops: Michigan Meeting - March 1, 2023

Other updates

• Orchard Classifieds & Exchanges

Honeycrisp Internal Browning Survey 2022

Internal browning of Honeycrisp apples was reported this year by many growers across Northwest Michigan. The cause of this problem is currently not understood and is being investigated by MSU Extension. This anonymous survey was developed to collect data about Honeycrisp block conditions, management, and presence/absence of internal browning. If you are a Michigan Honeycrisp apple producer, please take this survey! The information you provide will greatly assist us in our efforts to determine the cause of this issue. If you have any questions, please email Extension Educator Erin Lauwers at [email protected] or call the Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center at (231) 946-1510.

https://msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6W0VpJO6BJ6cZro

2023 Northwest Michigan Orchard and Vineyard Show - Tentative Agenda

The 2023 Northwest Michigan Orchard and Vineyard Show is scheduled for Jan. 17-18 at the Grand Traverse Resort in Acme, Michigan. Registration opens at 8 a.m. on Jan. 17 and the cost for both days is $50 in advance and $55 at the door. The line is often long at the registration desk, so meeting attendees are encouraged to arrive well before the 9 a.m. start time. Both days will feature educational programs and vendor exhibits.

One registration (tree fruit or grape session) will give attendees access to both the tree fruit sessions and grape sessions for both days.

The fruit industry luncheon will be Tuesday, Jan. 17, and is open to both tree fruit and grape registrants at a first come first serve basis.

The Cherry Marketing Institute annual meeting and luncheon will be Wednesday, Jan. 18. Wednesday’s Cherry Marketing Institute luncheon is free to cherry growers if they pre-register with the Cherry Marketing Institute by calling 517-669-4264 or emailing [email protected].

The exhibit hall will be open during the show to feature vendors of orchard and vineyard equipment and supplies, commodity organizations and other exhibitors.

Both Tuesday and Wednesday will offer a variety of topics relating to research and information on tart cherries, sweet cherries, apples and wine grapes addressing production and marketing. Cherry, apple and grape sessions will be held on both days. Tuesday’s sessions will conclude with a social hour.

The program is presented by the Grand Traverse Fruit Growers’ Council with collaboration from Michigan State University Extension and AgBioResearch, Cherry Marketing Institute, Parallel 45, Michigan Wine Collaborative, and the MSU Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center.

For more information on the Northwest Michigan Orchard and Vineyard Show, please call Jenn Zelinski at 231-946-1510 or email [email protected].

Featured in past FruitNet Reports

NMWHRC Farm Manager Position Re-posted

Please forward this link on to any interested parties!

https://careers.msu.edu/en-us/job/512881/farm-manager-is

Scholarship Opportunities

The NWMHRC Foundation and the Joshua S. Wunsch Scholarship are teaming up to support growers that would like to attend the annual International Tree Fruit Association (IFTA) meeting in Grand Rapids on February 12-15, 2023. There are six $1,000 scholarships available for growers/consultants/agribusiness representatives planning to attend. To apply, please address a letter to the Scholarship Committee expressing your need and why you are interested in attending this conference. Letters should be sent to Jenn at [email protected] and are due January 6, 2023. The scholarship committee will respond to applications within two days. Growers are encouraged to apply early to make arrangements and complete registration for this meeting.

There is another scholarship opportunity through the Ken Bull Endowment through the NWMHRC. The Ken Bull Scholarship is available to students who are enrolled at or committed to enrolling at Michigan State University for the purpose of receiving a four-year degree at the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The student must also be from either Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau or Manistee counties. To apply, the student must have graduated or will graduate in the upper 1/3rd of his or her class, submit a letter of recommendation from a teacher or principal of the institution attended by the student, and must be able to demonstrate financial need. If you are interested in applying to either of these scholarships, please reach out Jenn at [email protected] for further instructions. Applications are also due January 6, 2023.

We would like to thank Michigan Farm Bureau and the Bull family for contributing to these scholarships and the future of agriculture in northern Michigan.

Michigan Tart Cherry Cost of Production Study 2022 - Bulletin Available

Author: Chris Bardenhagen, Cherry Marketing Institute; Nikki Rothwell and Florencia Colella, Michigan State University Extension; and Jim Nugent, MSU District Horticulturalist, Emeritus

This cost of production study for Michigan tart cherries, conducted by specialists at Michigan State University (MSU) Extension and the Cherry Marketing Institute, is based on information gathered at a grower focus group meeting, numerous grower spray records, third-party data, and information provided from input and service suppliers. The majority of tarts are grown in Northwest Michigan. Based on the area’s 7,733-pound yield average, costs related to the operation and harvest of bearing tart cherry acreage are currently 26.5 cents/lb, and costs related to orchard establishment and land control are an additional 12.6 cents/lb. Including tart cherry assessments of about 1.17 cents/lb, this leads to an overall cost of 40 cents/lb.

However, when applying the average Michigan yield of 7,043 pounds to our cost findings, operation and harvest costs add up to 28.8 cents/lb and orchard establishment and land control costs another 13.9 cents/lb, for a total of 44 cents/lb after assessments. To this calculation, we add the caveat that the growers involved in our study tend to have higher than average yields, and our total cost data may well be higher than the average farmer’s as well.

Based on spray application records, we found that crop protection costs were similar to those from the previous cost of production study, despite increased pest pressure from spotted wing drosophila. However, we hypothesize that this could be a result of growers being conservative with sprays during 2020 and 2021 due to knowledge of low yields due to spring freeze events. Harvest costs have dropped slightly, due to faster equipment.

Input costs are generally higher across the board and supply chain disruptions are often making input availability difficult. While many crop protection input costs have not changed substantially, some important protectants are difficult to find, and herbicides are scarce and expensive. Steel, crop protectant, equipment, and fertilizer suppliers are currently reluctant to give price quotes because prices are volatile and subject to change. Labor costs, especially hourly manual labor, are also high.

U.S. Fire Blight Management Webinar Series *The first webinar takes place Dec. 12! Register now!*

The team that is leading the national fire blight grant “Comprehensive Fire Blight Management for the United States” is hosting a webinar series that will begin in December 2022 and run through October 2023. This series will address new research on best management practices for fire blight control.

The following is the upcoming fire blight webinar series agenda: 

December 12, 2022: Using models to predict firebight infections: MaryBlyt and Cougar Blight

Dr. Kerik Cox, Cornell University

Dr. Tianna DuPont, Washington State University 

If you did not sign up in time for this meeting and are interested in viewing the recording, please reach out to Jenn at [email protected].

March 15, 2023: Using biopesticides to help control fire blight

Dr. Ken Johnson, Oregon State University

June 13, 2023: Pruning and sanitation strategies to reduce fire blight

Dr. Tianna DuPont, Washington State University 

October 18, 2023: Using weather and environmental conditions to optimize biologicals and biopesticides for bloom production

Dr. Sara Villani, North Carolina State University

These online meetings will last approximately one hour from 4pm PST (7pm EST). Michigan growers will receive one credit for each of the meetings.

Growers are encouraged to attend this online event by registering below:

U.S. Fire Blight Management Workshops

The first year of a four-year project, Comprehensive Fire Blight Management for the United States, has been completed, and the team is inviting apple producers to hear the latest results. Researchers will host two meetings in spring 2023: Wenatchee, WA on February 23 and Traverse City, MI on March 1. These meetings will be held in person AND online, and we welcome participation from U.S. apple growers through both delivery methods.

At these meetings, researchers will present information about fire blight basics, including sustainable management practices to protect apples against this disease. We will also cover how to best use bloom infection prevention strategies with traditional antibiotics. Researchers will review antibiotic resistance and present new results on the nationwide efficacy trial results with biopesticides. There has also been new information on strategies to use prohexadione-calcium products and plant growth regulators (PGRs) to reduce shoot blight and how apple trees respond to Actigard/Apogee and other inducers. The team will also present information on how to manage fire blight infections with pruning and sanitation. The meetings will have researchers from Michigan State University, University of Illinois, University of California-Riverside, Cornell University, Washington State University, North Carolina State University, and Oregon State University in-person and online for presentations.

The Michigan workshop will be held on March 1, 2023 at the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Center, 6686 S. Center Highway, Traverse City, MI 49684 from 9am-2:30pm. Lunch will be included. To register for the MI event (in-person or online), please click below.

Michigan Fire Blight Meeting Agenda – March 1, 2023 EST

9:00-9:45: Introduction: Fire Blight and Bloom Infection Prevention with Antibiotics

Dr. George Sundin, Dept. of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University

9:45-10:30: Using Products that Work to Control Fire Blight

Dr. Kerik Cox, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section, Cornell University

10:30: Break

10:50-11:10: Antibiotic Resistance

Dr. Frank Zhao, Plant Pathology, Endowed Chair in Bacterial Diseases of Tree Fruits, Washington State University

11:10-11:40: Biology of Shoot Blight Infections

Katherine Olive, Dept. of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University

11:40-12:10: Managing Fire Blight Infections: Pruning, Sanitation

Dr. Tianna DuPont, Tree Fruit Extension Specialist, Washington State University 

12:10-1:00: Lunch

1:00-1:20: Tree Response to Actigard/Apogee and other Inducers

Dr. Xiaochen Yuan, Dept. of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University

1:20-1:50: Using Prohexadione Calcium and ASM for Shoot Blight Management

Dr. George Sundin, Dept. of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University

1:50: Discussion

The Washington workshop will be held on February 23, 2023 at the Confluence Technology Center, 285 Technology Center Way, Wenatchee, WA from 9am-3pm. To register for the WA event (in-person or online), please click below.

Washington Fire Blight Meeting Agenda – February 23, 2023 PST

9:00: Introduction to the Pathogen

Aina Baro, WSU Extension

Where does fire blight come from? What moves the pathogen around? The infection cycle.

9:15: The Economic Costs of Fire Blight

9:30: Bloom Infection Prevention with Antibiotics: The Basics

Tianna DuPont, WSU

Efficacy and timing of streptomycin, kasugamycin, and oxytetracycline products.

9:45: Antibiotic Resistance

Frank Zhao, WSU

Co-authors Jim Adaskaveg, UC Davis; Kerik Cox, Cornell; George Sundin, MSU

Current levels of antibiotic resistance by region of the United States.

10:00: Biopesticide Efficacy and Use

Ken Johnson, OSU

Co-authors: Tianna DuPont, Aina Baro, WSU; George Sundin, MSU; Jim Adaskaveg, UC Davis; Sara Villani, NCSU

Review of biopesticide product trials from SCRI and previous work.

10:40: Discussion

11:00: Break

11:15: Tree Response to Actigard/Apogee and other Inducers

Ken Johnson, OSU

Co-authors: Tianna DuPont, Aina Baro, WSU; Kerik Cox, Cornell; Jim Adaskaveg, UC Davis; Sara Villani, NCSU; George Sundin, MSU

Review of ProCa and ASM trials from SCRI and previous work.

11:45: Discussion

12:15: Lunch

1:00: Managing Fire Blight Infections: Pruning, Sanitation

Tianna DuPont, WSU

Co-authors: Ken Johnson, OSU; Kerik Cox, Cornell; Kari Peters, PSU

Summary of 8 on-farm replicated trials.

1:30: Using Systemic Acquired Resistance Products Therapeutics During Removal

Ken Johnson, OSU

2:00: Discussion

2:30: Closing and Pesticide Credits

Orchard Classifieds & Exchanges

Looking for something that you can’t get ahold of in time? Maybe one of our neighbors has some on hand. Have extra of something you’d like to offer?

Submit your item(s) using the link below and we’ll add your needed or extra items to the Orchard Classifieds & Exchanges list.

Or send us an email and we’ll add it to the list.

Available: Phil brown tree planter with row market and stand, only planted 4 acres with it, stored indoors, basically brand new

Contact: Call Noah 616-558-1357

Available: Phil Brown Forklift Mast for tractor. $4,000

Contact: Nathan Blattner 616-690-2067

Needed: Offset mower with a swing arm, about 12 ft. wide

Contact: Todd Jensen [email protected]

Available: Fully functioning Fossom circular blade hedger with extra blades and parts. Unit is mounted on Case 1210 that runs well and has excellent tires. Will consider separating tractor from hedger. $8000

Contact: Alan Lound 231-742-1864

Available: 20 used Picking buckets with aprons also 11 foot Taylor-Way two shank subsoiler. Will take best offer

Contact: Skip Sietsema [email protected]

Available: 

·      Day brand 36" horizontal rack and cloth cider press. 2 sided, 250-300 gallons/hour. Excellent condition. Very well maintained. Was ready to use for this season, but we upgraded to a larger press. All racks and blankets included.

·      Frontier brand sani-feed grinder/pump system.

·      HTST flash pasteurizer with AGC heat exchanger. 5 gallons/min capacity. On board air compressor. Works great.

Would prefer to sell this all as a package. $30,000 or best offer for everything. Ready to make cider commercially now. Willing to split items on a negotiated price basis.

Contact: Rich Friske. 231-350-8392