IFTA Conference In The Field
April 3, 2013 
Editor’s note: Win Cowgill, area fruit agent with Rutgers Cooperative Extension, attended IFTA’s Feb. 24 pre-conference cherry and peach pruning demonstration.
The IFTA pre-conference demonstration was held on Feb. 24 with a special cherry and peach pruning trip to Tougas Family Farm. IFTA president Mo Tougas hosted 100 hardy growers at his orchard in Northboro, MA, in the hills about 45 minutes west of Boston. Hardy because 30 minutes from the orchard it started snowing like crazy, so much so that the group had to walk the last quarter mile as the buses could not get up the snow covered hill to Mo’s orchard.
Six inches of fresh light snow fell during our three-hour session! Our guest speakers and pruning demonstrators were three of the top pruners in the country.
For cherries, Lynn Long of Oregon State University and Greg Lang of Michigan State University, captivated the group pruning sweet cherries under Haygrove high tunnels, grown in several different training systems. Growers peppered them with questions and a back-and-forth dialogue provided a great learning experience. More detail on pruning sweet cherry can be found at www.giselacherry.com.
We then walked over to the peach blocks through heavy snow, but it made a perfect winter afternoon experience, if you like snow.
Jim Schupp (Penn State University) and I and prepped a few trees in a four-year-old block of peaches trained to the Quad V system. When the group arrived, Schupp explained his method for created Quad V tree structure and, most important, how to manage crop load by estimating desired yield and then leaving the correct number of peach fruiting shoots to obtain that yield. The growers also peppered him with questions as he pruned another tree to demonstrate the technique.
Our three hours were up and it was time to head back to the buses for the return trip to Boston. Another great day on a winter IFTA tour was had by all!
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