03/29/06 Unharvested Fruit

Unharvested fruit can pay. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Fruit Grower report. A recent article in the Good Fruit Grower magazine suggests that leaving small or low grade apples in the orchard can dramatically improve a growers profits over the life of the orchard. For a number of years, the Washington tree fruit industry has been encouraging orchardists to leave small or low-grade apples in the field as a way to manage the crop size statewide, reduce the volume of poor fruit going to market, and perhaps boost f.o.b. prices. But a new software program is showing a greater financial benefit from the practice. The Excel-based program called A Grower's Technology Economic Assessment Model or TEAM was developed by Dr. Clark Seavert and agricultural economist from Oregon State University. SEAVERT: This model will assist growers in determining long range cost. Being able to inflate cost on an individual basis and take a look into the future of what their cost will be based on certain criteria. This software program also is a very detailed analysis of your pack outs.By paying attention to pack out, paying attention to culls, paying attention to different classes of not only size but grades, you can increase revenues greatly by spending a little money. The first version of the software is available as a free download from OSU's Mid-Agricultural Research and Extension Center's website. Dr. Seavert is currently working on an upgrade. SEAVERT: Version 2, which will be a windows based program, will be out in the fall. We're adding more tools to the package and it's going to make it more of an analysis or a whole farm budgeting analysis than we ever thought it would be That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Web site www.oregonstate.edu/dept/mcarec under "Extension materials."