12/27/07 2007 in the Rear View Mirror

2007 in the Rear View Mirror. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. 2007 saw one heck of a tree fruit crop. It seemed that after some of Mother Nature's wrath last year, she was much more gentle this year according Dave Carlson. CARLSON: The quality is probably one of our more vintage crops this year across the board on almost every variety. The Granny Smith's that have been harvested and packed so far are very green and a very small amount of cullage in those as well. They seem to be picking out close to estimate or slightly a little more. Immigration was a key issue and many orchardists reported shortages in workers. Diane Coates with USApple said they were fighting hard to get some relief. COATES: The immigration issue is the number one issue for our growers and unless we can get a comprehensive bill passed through Congress this year that includes the provisions like those in the AgJobs bill that would really ensure that we have a reliable, legal workforce many of our growers are concerned that they could go out of business. The wine industry had a good year in Washington State. Growth in the industry pushed passed 500 wineries according to Robin Pollard with the Wine Commission. POLLARD: We were notified this week that we have reached the 500 winery mark. The winery down in Walla Walla is our newest member of the family as I like to say and it just is an indication of just how tremendous and phenomenal the growth has been in the state of Washington. More tomorrow. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.