Moving Fast!
Moving Fast! I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report.
So how is the 2016 fruit season coming along?
HUBBARD: Fast! (laugh) We've been moving very fast this year.
That's Drew Hubbard, a research and development specialist for G.S. Long in The Dalles, Oregon who says the early warm weather and the skipping for the most part of frost season has orchardists in high gear.
HUBBARD: We had beautiful pollination weather. We'll have a better idea in a couple of weeks once we get past fruit drop and chuck fall but other than that, pome crops look good and the outlook on water is even better. We're over capacity for the year so that's a good sign but it's sounding like it's going to be hotter than last year
As far as any problems there was an early report of trouble with American Plum Borer and Hubbard says the issue will probably linger.
HUBBARD: We're still finding them but not quite to the same degree we were last year.
The borer came to the northwest from the east coast and California where it has done significant damage. Hubbard says another concern for orchardists is fire blight.
HUBBARD: We've had a couple of good fire blight infection periods so far so we might be hearing more about that for the people that weren't as diligent as they should have been but having a string of days into the 80's in the middle of bloom is never a good thing.
That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.
