2011 Fruit Year In Review Part 2

Fruit Year In Review Part 2. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Today we continue our look at the items that made the news in the tree fruit industry in 2011. This was a big year for the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center as construction began on phase 2 according to Deb Heintz with Prosser Economic Development.

HEINTZ: We are building an ancillary building that will help to put on the events at the Clore site itself so we are in our phase two of our phase 3. Phase 3 is the final building of the Clore Center itself.

Kevin Moffitt, president and CEO of Pear Bureau Northwest, was named president of the World Apple and Pear Association (WAPA). What does that mean for NW producers?

MOFFITT: Just help us obtain information as needed not only what’s coming out of WAPA but I might be able to call somebody for example we met with some people from Belgium and talked about how they got access to China.

A four-year, four-state project aimed at improving production and marketing of sweet cherries through stemless mechanical harvest launched a new website. Tracie Arnold, Project Coordinator for WSU Prosser – IAREC.

ARNOLD: We it’s really an informational portal. We’ve put a wide variety of information on the site. It’s for researchers who are looking for more information, it’s for people involved in the cherry industry, it’s for media and just for the general public.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.