Cornell Cooperative Summer Fruit Tour Will Be June 17
June 10, 2015 The 2015 Cornell Cooperative Extension Lake Ontario Summer Fruit Tour in Western New York will be held significantly earlier than usual, on Wednesday, June 17. This year’s change is due to Terence Robinson, professor of horticulture at Cornell University’s upcoming sabbatical.
The program will feature tree fruit production technology and grower innovations in Wayne County. This educational opportunity is expected to draw more than 250 growers from across the state.
Stop 1: Wind Mill Farms, 193 County Line Rd., Ontario. Wind Mill Farms is becoming a state-of-the-art operation with several new high density plantings. Owners Dave Coene and his father, Bob, have planted new orchards including SnapDragon (NY1), Gala, Fuji, and Honeycrisp in a tall spindle system. At this stop you will see a 10-acre planting of Gala on M.9377, NY1 on M.9Nic29, and Fuji on M.9377 planted in 2013 and 2014. They invested in a deer fence in collaboration with several New York growers and a consultant. Matt Wells and Dave Coene will discuss costs and how it has worked for them.
Robinson will lead a discussion on precision crop load management of Honeycrisp and the management of NY1. Mario Miranda Sazo, a fruit specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension, Will show branch management results after vigorous feathers of Fuji were bent with pre-cut black annealed wires on late June 2014.
Stop 2: Ted and Todd Furber of Cherry Lawn Farms will host a stop at 6420 Boyd Rd., Sodus. Art Agnello, professor of entomology with Cornell University; Kerik Cox, associate professor in plant pathology with Cornell University; and Deborah Breth, specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension, will present a progress report on controlling black stem borer in established apple orchards, and apple nurseries funded by Apple Research and Development Program and New York Farm Viability Institute. You will hear about the status of black stem borer trapping network across the region and the state. The Furbers will talk about their orchard wind machine.
We will then proceed to Cherry Lawn’s new storage facility at 6095 State Rte 14, North Rose, NY, just north of Alton. Todd and Ted Furber will talk about the decision making process to build their own CA storage.
Lunch will be served at Cherry Lawn Farms storage facility. Tour-goers will have an opportunity to watch equipment demonstrations including platforms, new sprayer technology, and more. Tomas Cabre of New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, will discuss and demonstrate proper sprayer calibration and deposition.
Stop 3: Van Acker Farms, 7233 Redman Rd., Williamson, NY. In May 2009 a rootstock trial with Honeycrisp was established at this stop to make side by side comparisons of some of the new Cornell Geneva rootstocks. Robinson and Miranda Sazo will present a progress report of the ongoing research on average yield per tree, fruit weight, and efficiency of these rootstocks for this weak growing variety.
Stop 4: DeFisher Fruit Farms The final stop for the day will be at DeFisher Fruit Farms and Apple Country Spirits at 3274 Eddy Ridge Rd., Marion, NY. Bill and Dave DeFisher operate a fourth-generation fruit farm, with their primary focus on processing apples and tart cherries. At this stop grafting or top-working will be discussed. The DeFishers have used this technique for many years to change over varieties that become difficult to market. Last year they converted an orchard to hard cider varieties to support their new venture in distilling and hard cider making. In 2012 the DeFishers opened Apple Country Spirits in an effort to diversify their business and to utilize their own fruit in a value added enterprise. After the discussion on top-working we will visit the state of the art distillery to discuss the “buzz” about hard cider
Pre-registration is encouraged so enough lunches and handouts will be available. Call Kim Hazel by Monday, Jun 15 at 4:30 p.m. at 585-798-4265 x 26 or register online by Jun 12. Limited registration will be available on-site at the first stop at 8 a.m., day of the tour.
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