November 2021 - 1

Michigan Hort Society
marks its 150th
anniversary
Tree Fruit Variety
Showcase
6
14
28
Mechanical, robotic
innovations highlighted
at blueberry event
November 2021 | Volume 60 |
Issue 11
Growth despite
challenges
Weathered grower to lead
Michigan hort group
By Stephen Kloosterman
Associate Editor
A conservative-minded grower from
Southwestern Michigan will lead other
growers in the state through 2022.
Scott Hassle is an owner and operator
of Berrybrook Enterprises, a diversified
farm operation that includes about
460 acres of apples and 420 acres of
asparagus. He succeeds Will Bristol
of Lapeer County as president of the
Michigan State Horticultural Society
(MSHS), which represents roughly
1,600 of the state's growers, sponsoring
research projects and scholarships,
as well as partnering with Michigan
Vegetable Council to organize the Great
Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market
EXPO in December each year.
Hassle is no stranger to tough times
and strategic decision-making. In the
current year, he's focused on surviving
an epic hailstorm. In 2019, he had a large
controlled atmosphere storage facility built,
and in the long-term, he's overseeing the
transition of the semi-dwarf orchards of
traditional cultivars, like Red Delicious,
to modern high-density plantings of
Gala, Fuji and Honeycrisp.
" We stick to the tried and true, " he
said, of selecting apple varieties.
The family
Hassle, with his brothers Joe Jr. and
John, formed Berrybrook Enterprises in
1993. Previously, the operation had been
known as Berrybrook Farms.
The three brothers manage a large
farm near Dowagiac, Michigan - the
legacy left by their parents, Joe Sr. and
Harriett Hassle, who are now in their
eighties. Scott oversees the apples and
asparagus part of the business, while Joe
See HORT, page 5
Scott Hassle is an owner and operator of Berrybrook Enterprises, located near
Dowagiac, Michigan. Photos: Stephen Kloosterman
Grape industry changes seen in 1995
By Gary Pullano
Editor
(This is another in a series of stories
marking the 60th anniversary of Fruit
Growers News.)
A Michigan State University (MSU)
professor of horticulture had some
predictions for the future of the grape
industry that he shared in a 1995
presentation.
Stan Howell said at the time that the
Eastern United States grape industry
will look different in the year 2025, with
the possibilities even including vineless
grapes.
After 25 years of working on the
major issues of Michigan grape and wine
production, Howell looked ahead into
the next century in a presentation at
Southwest Michigan Hort Days at Lake
Michigan College in Benton Harbor,
Michigan. The talk was recapped in the
February 1995 issue of The Great Lakes
Fruit Growers News, the predecessor of
the Fruit Growers News.
Predicting the future was a risky
enterprise, especially when considering
the events of the previous 25 years, few
of which were reasonable expect when
Howell began in 1969.
" I could not have anticipated the
change in Concord culture, the rise in
importance of Niagara for white juice,
the expansion of hybrids and vinifera
cultivars for wine to the virtual exclusion
of Concord, Niagara and Delaware. These
latter three had been the basis for 95% of
Michigan's wine in 1970 and accounted
for less than 5% in 1993, " Howell said.
No one in 1970 would have suggested
that commercial grape production in the
" We desire to manage
grapevine production
and fruit composition and
quality. Such an approach
will require a much more
intense approach to
viticulture by 2025. "
state would take place anywhere other
than in Southwest Michigan. Today, there
are acceptable winegrape sites in almost
every county bordering Lake Michigan
from Berrien in the south to Grand
Traverse and Leelanau in the north.
See GRAPE, page 8
November 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2021
