January 2020 - 1

New York invests in
drone pollination
startup
Great Lakes Fruit,
Vegetable & Farm
Market EXPO farm
market bus tour
8
16
24
Organic Grower
Summit educates,
inspires
January 2020 | Volume 59 |
Issue 1
DISPATCH
APPLES,
ENTERTAIN
PEOPLE
Chudleigh's Farm
remains an Ontario staple
Speaking to a tour group from the International Fruit Tree Association, Tom Chudleigh shares his farm and agritainment knowledge at MIlton, Ontario, Canada's Chudleigh's Farm.
Photos: Gary Pullano
By Gary Pullano
Managing Editor
Tom Chudleigh's philosophy regarding
orchard production after 50 years in the
business can be summed up in one simple
credo: " Pay attention to the revenue; get
all you can out of every apple you grow
because it's going to cost you the same no
matter what. "
" If you look at your costs over the last
five years they probably haven't changed, "
Chudleigh said. " Oh yea, they probably
went up a little bit here and there, but you
cut costs there and here. So the cost is not
much different. (As an example) you've
had your first big pick of Honeycrisp, and
so your revenue went up, and you probably
had a very good year. "
Chudleigh shared his perspective to
conclude the International Fruit Tree
Association's (IFTA) summer 2019 visit
to his wide-ranging operation in Milton,
Ontario, Canada.
Eric Chudleigh, Tom's father, purchased
the 100-acre farm 67 years ago, and grew
his own apple trees on M.9, planting the
first 12-acre orchard in 1956-1957.
The development of the pick-your-own
method of marketing/selling began 53
See ONTARIO, page 6
Columbia-Snake River litigation
has 90,000-plus acres in balance
By Stephen Kloosterman
Associate Editor
Ongoing litigation over management
of the Columbia-Snake River stands
to affect a wide swathe of fruitful land
in the West - more than 90,000 acres,
according to one trade group.
At issue are dams on the lower
Snake River, which ecological groups
want removed because of fishery
concerns. Irrigators say irrigation and
fruit production could suffer a costly
disruption.
Litigation over the highly-contentious
issue has raged for more than two decades,
but the matter in 2020 is set to draw
nearer a resolution of some kind. A public
comment period ended in December.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee commissioned
an Environmental Impact Study of the
issue, and a draft of that document is set to
be released in February 2020.
" What's being written is the final
chapter in 27 years' litigation, " said Darryll
Olsen, a representative on the board of
the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators
Association. At the heart of the litigation
is the Columbia-Snake River's " biological
opinion " - operating instructions provided
to federal water operators for protecting 13
salmon and steelhead species listed under
the Endangered Species Act.
The state of Oregon and a variety
of ecological groups have repeatedly
fought the existing biologicial opinion in
court, Olsen said. In 2016, U.S. Federal
District Judge Michael Simon vacated
the current biological opinion, accepting
the argument made by ecological groups
See WATER, page 12

January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2020