Dale Olsen has found Washington State's Parker Heights area to be a good location for soft fruit.

New varieties are key to soft fruit industry's future

By Melissa Hansen

Dale Olsen believes there is a bright future for Washington State's stone fruit industry, though acreage statistics may not reveal such.

Review of acreage statistics for peaches, nectarines, plums, prunes, and apricots in Washington point more to a stable, stagnant, and even declining industry than the one painted by Olsen. But statistics don't reflect new and improved stone fruit varieties being planted, nor those new varieties and rootstocks on the horizon.

Olsen may be closer than most to the cutting edge of new varieties and rootstocks. A test plot, established some eight years ago to help Pacific Northwest stone fruit growers identify better varieties, is right outside his office window in the middle of his orchards at Parker Heights, near Yakima, Washington.

As caretaker of the test plot which includes more than 120 cultivars, Olsen also serves as watchdog to ensure security of the varieties for the Northwest Stone Fruit Tester's Association.

Voluntary members of the group financially support the plot with annual dues. In turn, they can visit weekly, receive newsletters and reports on fruit characteristics, and attend organized tours during summer.

Membership comprises growers and nurseries from across the United States, Canada, France, and Australia, according to Olsen. Many varieties are from the breeding programs of Zaiger Genetics and Bradford Farms in California and Paul Friday's Fury series developed in Michigan.

The concept for the test plot was initiated by several industry members, including Dave Weil of Tree Connection, Inc., Oregon; Gip Redman of Wapato, Washington; and Olsen. "We needed something instead of going to the coffee shop, something we could actually see to prove these varieties," said Olsen.

Many nurseries are reluctant to participate in test plots run by public entities like universities, due to security reasons, he explained. "We're not trying to keep it secret," he said. "Anyone can attend the twilight tours."

But security is important. To enter the test plot of two acres, one must drive down a private lane past Olsen's house and office and through a locked gate.

New varieties

Olsen sees new varieties as the ticket to a successful future in the fruit business. "We can't stay in existence with old, tired trees," he said.

On the horizon are more winter-hardy rootstocks and varieties for soft fruits. Semidwarfing rootstocks also have potential for soft fruit, reducing labor requirements as well as resulting in larger fruit size. Many Northwest growers have recently begun planting dwarfing cherry rootstocks in efforts to control tree size.

He sees tremendous opportunity for white-flesh peach and nectarine varieties for export to the Pacific Rim. Asians are crazy about the low-acid, white-flesh varieties, even in domestic markets catering to Asian communities, he added.

The test plot has several varieties of white-flesh, low-acid peaches under trial. Subacid varieties of yellow-flesh peaches and nectarines are under development at several nurseries.

Olsen said improvements to stone fruit varieties are being made in the areas of better color, ability to store longer on the tree, and early and late season varieties to expand the marketing window.

Diversification

A third-generation farmer, Olsen returned to the family farm when he was about 25 years old. His grandfather and father helped to found the Big Y packing house in the lower Yakima Valley, which later became known as Blue Ribbon Packing. Today, it goes by the name of Snokist Growers, Inc.

He farms about 250 acres of tree fruit in partnership with his twin brother Thor, although Thor is not an active participant. Fruit grown includes Bing cherries; Flamecrest, Regina, Rich May, and O'Henry peaches; Spring Diamond nectarines; Friar plums; Italian prunes; Bartlett, d'Anjou, and Bosc pears; and Red and Golden Delicious, Fuji, and Pink Lady apples.

Olsen's fruit is packed at R.E. Redman and Sons in nearby Wapato.

Such diversification allows Olsen to keep a core of about 25 to 30 workers employed throughout much of the year, requiring addition to his labor force only for harvest. "My banks really like it," he said referring to his many crops. "They especially like it in a year such as this, with a big apple crop predicted."

Parker Heights is a favorable location for stone fruits, which are susceptible to winter damage. According to Olsen, none of his trees were lost during the 1996 winter freeze, and his temperatures were about 10°F warmer than other locations.

His location is also relatively frost-free, important in allowing consistent cropping in the test plot.

But even in his warmer location, it was not warm enough for apricots. "I tried Perfection apricots, but they are very susceptible to winter damage... eventually, they came out," he explained.

Challenges

Growing stone fruit in Washington is not without its challenges.

Extreme winter temperatures periodically wreak havoc on trees and buds, resulting in the potential for wide swings in yield and production. "Winter is the limiting factor here," said Olsen.

The insect most damaging in recent times is Western flower thrips, which comes into the orchard when fruit is nearly ripe and damages the surface of fruit with its rasping action. The problem, he said, is that most pesticides registered for thrips have about a 30-day preharvest interval, eliminating their use if fruit is near maturity.

Olsen, who has served for eight years on the stone fruit committee of the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission and is the current committee chair, said the commission has funded thrips and lygus bug research conducted by Dr. Daniel Mayer, Washington State University. Mayer has studied releases of the pirate bug for thrips control and effectiveness of several insecticides on thrips.

About $35,000 of commission funds will be spent this year for stone fruit research on powdery mildew control, controlled atmosphere storage to improve postharvest quality, pest control, variety evaluation, and chemical thinning.

Effective chemical thinning is a long-held dream of many stone fruit growers. In some years, thinning costs can be staggering. Olsen recalled spending about $1,000 per acre one year to thin his plums. He believes effective chemical thinning is nearing reality for soft fruit growers.

He has great hopes for the use of ReTain (aminoethoxyvinylglycine, or AVG), manufactured by Abbott Laboratories. Promising results were observed from a plum trial in his orchard. ReTain shows promise in Bartlett pears, as well, spreading out the harvest window, he noted.

A new problem worrying growers and packers is inking and staining that has begun to show up on new varieties of stone and pome fruit. Though fruit looks fine at harvest, dark staining sometimes shows up on fruit at the warehouse. While this has occurred primarily on peaches and nectarines, Olsen had staining on some Fuji apples last year. The cause has not yet been determined. Some suspect a link with heavy metals, perhaps contained in sprays or fertilizers, that are taken up in some manner by the tree.

Niche market

Olsen concedes that California is the dominant player in stone fruit production. "But Washington stone fruit will always have a niche in the marketplace, because ours is tree-ripened," he said. "We have built an excellent reputation for our tree-ripened fruit."

He believes new varieties and rootstocks and chemical thinning will help encourage profitability in growing stone fruits. Olsen is so upbeat about the future of Washington's tree fruit industry that he is encouraging two of his four children to carry on the family business.

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