January 2019 - 1

Sterile insect releases
by drone target pest
control
Weather, varieties, keep
Sundance alert
10
14
24
Effects of smoke
on crops focus of
Washington State
University research
January 2019 | Volume 58 |
Issue 1
HIGHDENSITY
delights
Dwarf
system innovators
excel in British Columbia
Madeline van Roechoudt, president of Dorenberg Orchards, with Raymond Fisher, orchard manager in an Ambrosia and Sunrise orchard that overlooks Lake Okanagan. Photos: Gary Pullano
By Gary Pullano
Managing Editor
Since 1949, the van Roechoudt
family has been growing apples on
Dorenberg Orchards near Kelowna,
British Columbia, Canada. Today, the
farm's award-winning Ambrosias, Gala
and Sunrise apples reflect decades of
family wisdom blended with the latest
agricultural techniques.
The farm, located 30 minutes north
of Kelowna overlooking Okanagan
Lake, was the final stop on the 2018
International Fruit Tree Association's
Summer Study Tour.
" Together, with our annual crew we
hand pick our apples, selecting for ideal
color, maturity and size, " said Madeline van
Roechoudt, the president of Dorenberg
Orchards who is the third generation of
her family farming the orchard.
Madeleine is the daughter of the late
Marc and Tessa van Roechoudt, and
granddaughter of Louis and Suzanne
van Roechoudt.
Apple harvest starts in August with
Sunrise, running through mid-October
with the end of Ambrosia, van Roechoudt
said. As the van Roechoudt family has
done for three generations, the farm still
ships its apples to the local cooperative
packinghouse, where they're sold under
the BC Tree Fruits label.
Ever since Louis van Roechoudt
pioneered the dwarf trellis system
in the Okanagan, the family has
embraced innovative growing methods,
management systems and varieties.
" We were one of the first orchards
to cultivate the new Ambrosia apple
back in the 1990s and are one of the
largest growers in B.C., " Madeline van
Roechoudt said.
Today, with the growth of the
Okanagan as a wine region, Dorenberg
Orchards has converted 10 acres to
riesling and pinot Auxerrois winegrape
production on its steepest slope. The first
harvest was in 2010. Grapes are harvested
between late October and early November
and are shipped to the neighboring Gray
Monk Estate Winery.
Louis van Roechoudt of Dorenberg
Orchards was the first grower to adopt
dwarfing rootstocks in the 1950s in British
Columbia with a 6-foot-by-11-foot-spaced
Golden Delicious planting. He was the
first to show dense plantings could be
commercially viable in the Okanagan.
The family pioneered a trellising system
where the tops of trees were trained along
See INNOVATORS, page 5
H-2A use soars amid wage challenges
By Gary Pullano
Managing Editor
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
certified nearly a quarter of a million H-2A
positions in 2018. This is 108 percent more
than the number of positions certified in
fiscal year 2014, just five years ago, and
more than double the number of positions
in a short time span - with no sign of a
slowdown anytime soon.
In July 2018, after the third quarter H-2A
program data was released by DOL's Office
of Foreign Labor Certification, Veronica
Nigh, an economist with the American
Farm Bureau Federation, predicted " an
extremely large number of positions would
be certified in the fourth quarter, pushing
DOL certifications over the 240,000 mark in
fiscal year 2018. "
With DOL certifying more than 49,000
positions in July, August and September -
an increase of over 23 percent from fourth
quarter 2017 - that projection was proven
correct. A strong fourth quarter brought
the total number of certified positions in FY
2018 to 242,762 - an increase of more than
21 percent over FY 2017.
Nigh said the end of the fiscal year
presented a good opportunity to compare
growth in H-2A use among different
states and crops. In FY 2018, Georgia had
the largest number of certified positions,
surpassing Florida, which led the nation
in certified
H-2A positions
in 2015, 2016
and 2017.
Georgia was
able to capture
the title for the
first time with
an incredible
38 percent
increase in
certified positions between 2017 and 2018.
All of the top five H-2A utilizing states
experienced position growth between 2017
and 2018. Even more incredible, Nigh said,
MICHAEL MARSH
See H-2A, page 6

January 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2019