Fruit Year Wrap Up

Fruit Year Wrap Up. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

We covered a lot of stories in 2011 that affected the fruit industry and as we mentioned yesterday the weather played a very significant role. Pests were another factor..some were old nemesis like the gypsy moth according to WSDA’s Mike Louisell.

LOUISELL: It can also affect of course the horticulture, nursery, timber industry - agriculture. If we find it and if there’s a reproducing population, we eradicate it. It’s mainly found in western Washington in recent years but we do trap in each of the states 39 counties.

Bonnie Shanafelt, Horticultural Pest and Disease Board Agent for Chelan and Douglas counties talked about the cherry fruit fly.

SHANAFELT: The significance of that is that the cherry fruit fly is a quarantined pest so that when it comes time to harvest the fruit if the cherry fruit fly is found in a growers crop, he won’t be able to sell his crop. If up to three of them are found in a shed the whole entire shed gets shut down so it’s a very important pest to control in the area.

And of course we talked a lot about how fruit fit into a healthy diet. Cristie Mather, Director of Communications for Pear Bureau Northwest talked about their partnership with the USDA to promote pears.

MATHER: It’s a concerted effort of partners to speak consistently about the MyPlate messaging, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines and just sort of create a grass roots effort to really communicate what these guidelines are and really help American’s make those smart eating choices.

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