The first stop for the 2011 IFAJ Congress Lake Huron Tour group today was Martin’s Family Fruit Farm. Our host, Steve Martin, gave us a full tour of their apple packing and storage facility. The short video clip below shows the washing process where the bins unload into a wash tank and then the apples move through an automated process than includes some manual sorting and finally weighing and packing.
We got to take our pick of several varieties after we were done. I chose a Honeycrisp which was delicious. The farm grows many varieties including the MacIntosh which I believe someone said is 200 years old this year. Ontario is the top apple producing province in Canada.
The RCA (Rotating Cross-Arm) System from Trellis Growing Systems is turning marginal land into profits for many Midwestern farmers who have begun to plant a new cash crop – blackberries. Developed by Indiana grower Richard Barnes, the RCA System enables Midwestern growers to successfully and profitably plant blackberries by overcoming some of the traditional challenges associated with the crop.
Barnes began experimenting with blackberries about 11 years ago and like most growers had issues with different aspects of their operation. He began to do research where he spoke with the USDA who was working on developing a trellis system. After receiving their first grant in 2007, Trellis Growing Systems was born and has since received several other grants.
For the most part, blackberry varieties will not survive the winters in the Midwest. Therefore most blackberries are grown in the more temperate climates of the southern Midwest and the majority of them are coming out of California. But with the development of the RCA System, the game has changed.
“With our technology, the RCA System, we can rotate the canes down near the ground in the winter and if necessary we can cover those canes with a floating row cover,” explained Richard Barnes, creator of the technology and founder of Trellis Growing Systems. “That enables the canes to survive the winter with little to no cane damage, and what this does is open up a whole new opportunity and industry for growers in the Midwest.”
Barnes said growers using this system have been able to earn $45,000+ in revenue per acre. One reason is that per flat prices are higher in July and August when blackberries are harvested in the Midwest, between $15 to $20 per flat. When the majority of blackberries are harvested in May or June in other regions, flat prices are around $12 to $13 per flat.
Trellis Growing Systems, along with Bedford (their manufacturing partner) will be showcasing their blackberry technology during the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois August 30-September 1, 2011 in booth 575. Barnes said growers can get a personal demonstration of the RCA System anytime during the show, or they can pre-schedule an appointment to learn more by calling him at 260-241-3128. You can also get more information on their website at www.trellisgrowingsystems.com.
The top players of the popular on-line game FarmVille will get a taste of reality as they leave the virtual farm this month to plant a real fruit orchard in the real town of Farmville, Virginia – courtesy of Edy’s Fruit Bars.
The new orchard in Farmville, VA commemorates a branded integration between Edy’s Fruit Bars and FarmVille. From June 13 to June 19, 2011, FarmVille players across the country will plant limited edition Edy’s Fruit Bars branded crops within the FarmVille game, earning additional profitability and the opportunity to receive mastery recognition for planting, growing and selling the Fruit Bars crops.
A handful of lucky players have been selected to plant trees in real life, as well. Sharyn Martinez is among the FarmVille enthusiasts traveling to Farmville, VA to plant a fruit orchard with Edy’s Fruit Bars. “Being from Los Angeles, I thought the only way I’d get to plant an orchard was on my beautiful virtual farm! But now, thanks to Edy’s Fruit Bars and Zynga, I am getting ready to dig in and plant fruit trees in the real town of Farmville,” says Sharyn.
The planting in Farmville, VA is an example of Edy’s Fruit Bars ongoing commitment to revitalizing one of our most precious resources: fruit trees. In 2010, Fruit Bars introduced Communities Take Root, an annual program dedicated to planting fruit tree orchards in deserving communities nationwide. Throughout the summer, Edy’s Fruit Bars invites people across the United States to cast their vote to help twenty communities blossom, one orchard at a time.
Tex Starr Distributing LLC, a newly formed company in South Texas announces the unveiling of the company’s new sweet papaya variety called Royal Star Papaya. The proprietary seed variety is a natural hybrid that is sweet, firm, and brightly colored inside and out.
To reach the consumer, Tex Starr Distributing LLC plans to launch a consumer marketing push this summer to align with the product’s availability.
David Peterson, grower and proprietor of Tex Starr Distributing LLC., says, “Foodies, chefs, health and adventure eaters alike are searching for the next big culinary ingredient and we intend to give them Royal Star. It smells and looks enticing, tastes amazing, is great for your body and has a longer shelf life than other papaya varieties available on the market.”
While most Maradol papayas have a shelf life of 3 days once it has been cut, Royal Star Papaya has a shelf life of up to 5 days, even after it is cut. Uncut the fruit can last for up to 14 days.
Contact information for Tex Starr Distributing LLC, the only distributor of Royal Star Papaya, is available at www.royalstarpapaya.com.
Dr. Micheal Orzolek, a professor in Pennsylvania State University’s horticulture department, can grow a mean blueberry. Orzolek has been involved in growing blueberries for the past few years. He has incorporated some of SollerUSA’s technologies to help rejuvenate the blueberry crop. Currently, he is using both a root applied and folio applied program with drip irrigation and early field tests have shown that this program has increased his yield between 50-100 percent.
During the Ag Associates Conference in Houston this week, Dr. Orzolek shared his results to a crowd of more than 100 people from all over the world. He told me during an interview that specifically he uses Flower Power, which gets really good flower production and also uses Fruit Power which increased the size of the berries as well as made them more succulent.
I asked Dr. Orzolek why treating the roots was so important. He said, “Roots are important because the root caps produce two of the plant hormones we use in plant production and also because all the nutrients come in through the caps. The result,” he continued, “of healthier plants is that we have less diseases and insect problems.”
He mentioned that he is getting a much better crop production with a lot less inputs of insecticides and fungicides.
I asked him what he recommended for other growers currently growing blueberries or considering growing them. He answered that he should consider both soil and foliar treatments and especially stressed the use of the Fruit Power.
Well, it must work because people have been known to try to sneak into his test plots but you’ll have to listen to the full interview with Dr. Orzolek to hear the full story.
The United Fresh Virtual Marketplace lists detailed product information in hundreds of categories from over 220 companies, including exhibitors at the upcoming United Fresh 2009 convention in Las Vegas, April 21-24. While the Virtual Marketplace was launched to coincide with United Fresh 2009, the site will continue to add new products and companies all year long.
The new database is built on a state-of-the-art product search platform, allowing visitors a completely free service to search for products of interest in a variety of ways. For example, visitors can search by product category for food safety equipment, packaging materials or new fresh produce items, or they can search for specific companies to see the array of product offerings from each.
The site also provides for an interactive user experience, allowing visitors to send messages to companies requesting additional information or personal meetings, and to create personalized lists of products and companies of interest.
On my first IFAJ tour stop I spoke with our host, Johann Scholler, Steirerfrucht. They are a fresh fruit packing facility. The main product is apples although they also handle pears and other fruit.
Apples are the number one fresh fruit choice in Austria. After we left the plant we did visit a couple of different apple farms. We were apparently in between seasons when we were at the plant but they were still washing and packing apples. I’ve got some video of it but that will have to wait until later since I don’t have enough time to upload it.
Johann talked about organic apples since his company believes the market for it is growing. In fact, he says some experts are projecting 10-15% growth for the next 5 to 6 years. Like me, he doesn’t see much difference in organic and non-organic other than an emotional appeal since scientifically there’s not any reason to choose one over the other. But you have to give the consumer what they want.
He did say that “organic” trees produce less fruit and that can allow the fruit to obtain a higher sugar content.
In this week's program Chuck talks with Mike Adams, AgriTalk.
Chuck and Mike often wind up at the same events all over the country so it seemed like a good idea to do a little AgriTalking about the changes they've seen in the ag media landscape.
The first stop for the 2011 IFAJ Congress Lake Huron Tour group today was Martin’s Family Fruit Farm. Our host, Steve Martin, gave us a full tour of their apple packing and storage facility. The short video clip below shows the washing process where the bins unload into a wash tank and then the apples move through an automated process than includes some manual sorting and finally weighing and packing.
A handful of lucky players have been selected to plant trees in real life, as well. Sharyn Martinez is among the FarmVille enthusiasts traveling to Farmville, VA to plant a fruit orchard with Edy’s Fruit Bars. “Being from Los Angeles, I thought the only way I’d get to plant an orchard was on my beautiful virtual farm! But now, thanks to Edy’s Fruit Bars and Zynga, I am getting ready to dig in and plant fruit trees in the real town of Farmville,” says Sharyn.
During the 
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On my first IFAJ tour stop I spoke with our host, Johann Scholler, Steirerfrucht. They are a fresh fruit packing facility. The main product is apples although they also handle pears and other fruit.
In this week's program Chuck talks with Mike Adams, AgriTalk.
