Looks Like They Made It: Texas Fruit Crops Thrive in Wake of Winter Freeze
Texas peach and blackberry producers, while reporting above-average fruit sets, good growing conditions, and few issues as they near harvest, are expecting high demand, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert.
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Larry Stein, PhD, AgriLife Extension Horticulturist, Uvalde, said there was fear among growers that Winter Storm Uri might slash Texas peach production, but all signs point to an above-average crop. Blackberries, another significant fruit crop for the state, are also expected to produce a bumper crop.
“I wasn’t sure there would be a crop this year, but barring any unforeseen weather calamities, Texas producers are expecting a good crop in both quality and quantity,” Stein said.
Sowing the Seeds for Apple Grower of the Year Award
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Robert Black
“When we planted ‘Gala’, people started eating more fresh apples. We want noisy apples – they have to crunch when you bite into them.”
– Robert Black, 2020 Apple Grower of the Year
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We’ve been proud to present the
American Fruit Grower
SM Apple Grower of the Year Award for the last 32 years. And if Greg Clarke is accurate in his assessment of young growers, we’ll be doing so for at least another 32 years.
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Clarke represents Valent U.S.A. as a Senior Field Development Specialist, based in Pennsylvania. Valent has sponsored the Apple Grower of the Year award since 2015 and is again doing so this year.
Why Grape Growers Are Turning to Biochar for Vine Growth
Growers can produce their own biochar by burning pulled vines from their fields.
Centuries of precedent, dating back to human prehistory, support the soil benefits of biochar. But it is the last two years that have really sold Doug Beck on the agricultural perks of terra preta, or the “dark earth.”
Beck, a Ph.D. soil scientist with experience across four continents, has spent the last four growing seasons in California monitoring a Salinas Valley-based trial to evaluate the impact of biochar and compost as soil amendments for wine grapes. Several factors are being assessed in an 8-acre block of newly planted ‘Pinot Noir’ vines, including vine growth, water use, yield, and fruit quality.
Investing in New Orchard Equipment Can Lead To a Fruitful Payoff growingproduce.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from growingproduce.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
‘Honeycrisp’ growers intent on preventing bitter pit might want to consider Bud-9 and G969 rootstocks because of their low rates of vigor.
Photo courtesy of Washington State University
A trial involving ‘Honeycrisp’ apple trees that were fruited for the first time in 2020 supports the premise that rootstock choice strongly affects bitter pit incidence in the popular but disorder-sensitive cultivar.
Lee Kalcsits, Associate Professor of Tree Fruit Physiology, Washington State University, concluded as much from a 2017 planting of ‘Royal Red Honeycrisp’ trees that were grafted onto one of 10 different rootstocks. The most successful of those rootstocks last summer were Bud-9 and G.969, both of which boast low rates of shoot growth, i.e., vigor.