01/04/06 Future of plant production - the now

Not much has changed over the years when it comes to the basics of plant production in the tree fruit industry. That's according to fieldman and orchardist Ty Fleming. FLEMING: Apples ... rootstocks are from layer beds. We've made the switch from seedlings to layer bed, M-9, M-26. Cherries & still a lot of seedling production, some cutting, some tissue culture. Pears & cuttings, seedlings. Basically, the current orchards are being supported very well by the nursery industry. But what's interesting is we have a two year root, a one year top, top's cut off at planting time. Basic system. However, Fleming says that that basic system, coupled with recent trends in planting should make growers take notice that things must and will change to sustain economic viability in the long term. FLEMING: If we look at the planting trends over the last twenty years, 20 x 20, 10 x 20, 9 x 18, 8 x 16, we have a definite trend. The question is why would that trend stop? What is next? There really is no reason for that trend to stop from a production standpoint, though you talk to growers and you say, "Hey, why aren't you planting more trees per acre?" "Oh, it's too expensive". O.K., that arguments been made for the last forty years, one hundred years probably. Bottom line according to Fleming, more trees per acre will mean a better chance for growers to remain in the fruit industry. What that picture might look like in twenty, even thirty years, is revealed in future programs.