The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) named Baker, president of United Apple Sales LLC , as chair for the 2024-25 term.

Baker succeeds 2023-24 USApple chair Steve Clement, CEO of PNW Tree Fruit in Yakima, Washington.

The gavel was officially passed from Clement to Baker at USApple’s Aug. 14-16 board of directors meeting in Chicago at the completion of its Outlook conference on Friday, the show’s last day.

Raised on a fruit and vegetable farm in Ransomville, New York, near the shores of Lake Ontario north of Buffalo, New York, Baker follows a unique legacy, both in the apple business and in this esteemed industry leadership role, according to a news release.

Also located close to Lake Ontario, United grows and ships a large number of varieties of conventional apples and pears as well as organic Golden Delicious, Crispin and Ida Red apples.

In addition to Baker, other USApple’s 2024-25 elected board officers include:

• Vice chair: Steve Smith, vice president, marketing, Washington Fruit, Yakima, Washington
• Secretary: Philip Glaize III, head of operations/sales, Glaize Apples, Winchester, Virginia
• Treasurer: Kaari Stannard, president & CEO, New York Apple Sales, Glenmont, New York
• Immediate Past Chair: Steve Clement

Baker’s father, Paul Baker, was chair of USApple in 1989.

“This is a pivotal time to have someone with Brett’s experience and deep-rooted passion for agriculture at the helm of our board of directors,” Jim Bair, USApple’s president and CEO, said in the release. “His leadership will be essential to driving innovation and addressing challenges.”

Prior to joining the Lyndonville, New York-based United Apple Sales in 2010, Baker graduated from Cornell in 1999 and spent a handful of years on the family farm. Then, he went into the grocery retail business with Aldi for nine years.

“It’s an honor to be elected as the chair of USApple,” Baker said in the release. “I am committed to continuing the work of my predecessors – including my own late father – to advocate for our industry, foster innovation, and overcome the challenges we face. As an industry working together, we can enact meaningful change through USApple.”

PNW Tree Fruit is associated with Sage Fruit, which grows, ships and markets conventional apples, pears, cherries and stone fruit and organic apples and pears.

United grows and ships a large number of varieties of conventional apples and pears as well as organic Golden Delicious, Crispin and Ida Red apples.

USApple is a national trade association representing all segments of the apple industry. Members include 36 state and regional apple associations, representing 26,000 apple growers throughout the country and more than 3,700 apple-related companies. USApple’s members collectively grow more than 10 billion pounds of apples a year on average, supporting about 150,000 jobs and generating more than $8 billion in total wages and $23 billion in economic activity.

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She succeeds Ray Hammerschmidt, who plans to retire.

Byrne, who holds a doctoral degree, has worked at MSU as the plant pathology diagnostician since 1999, after earning a B.S. in plant science from Cornell University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in plant pathology from MSU.

In addition to her diagnostic role, Byrne teaches plant pathology to students in the MSU Institute of Agricultural Technology and has served alongside Hammerschmidt as the associate director for the North Central Plant Diagnostic Network since 2003.

For more than 20 years, Hammerschmidt, a PhD, served as the faculty coordinator for the MSU diagnostics lab and the director for the North Central Plant Diagnostic Network. His work during this time has grown and strengthened the training and networking capacity of diagnosticians to benefit MSU Plant & Pest Diagnostics clients and the regional and national networks, according to a news release.

In addition to those roles, Hammerschmidt is an accomplished professor of plant pathology, focusing on physiology and biochemistry of disease and disease resistance in cucurbits, potatoes, cherries, arabidopsis (small flowering plants related to cabbage and mustard), and soybeans.

Hammerschmidt also taught MSU’s core plant pathology class, two graduate plant pathology courses and served in various administrative roles including the chair of the former Department of Plant Pathology, interim director of MSU Extension and Project GREEEN advisor.

In July 2022, after almost 42 years of dedicated service to MSU and the greater community, Hammerschmidt retired. He stayed on as professor emeritus and worked part time on research, Project GREEEN and the transition of leadership of the Plant & Pest Diagnostics and North Central Plant Diagnostic Network. He plans to “retire again” at the end of 2024.

When asked about his successor, Hammerschmidt commented, “I’m very pleased that Dr. Byrne has accepted the directorship of Plant & Pest Diagnostics. She is already very well-known for her excellence as a plant pathology diagnostician and Plant & Pest Diagnostics team member. She has a very clear vision for how the Plant & Pest Diagnostics will continue to provide excellent service while growing and evolving to meet changing needs. As the associate director of North Central Plant Diagnostic Network, she has provided valuable assistance and guidance to both me and members at the regional and national levels. I have no doubt that Jan will excel in her new position and continue to move diagnostics forward!”

MSU has offered plant-related diagnostic services to the public and local and national agricultural communities for more than 25 years. Services include identification of plant pests and plant health analysis spanning pathology, entomology, nematology and abiotic issues.

As the North Central Plant Diagnostic Regional Center for the North Central Plant Diagnostic Network, MSU has faculty and staff devoted to each of these diagnostic disciplines and continues to expand its capabilities through advances in molecular diagnostics.

The services at Plant & Pest Diagnostics will remain unchanged and Byrne will continue to serve as the plant pathology diagnostician and teach in her new leadership position.

— Erin Hill, Michigan State University Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences

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These cherry growers began their terms on the board on July 1:

• Barry Peterson of Green Bay
• Terry Sorenson of Sturgeon Bay

The board members serve three-year terms on the cherry board.

The cherry board is composed of five at-large growers who are responsible for administering Wisconsin’s Cherry Marketing Order.

Started in 1984, the board oversees the collection and use of approximately $55,000 in assessment fees paid by Wisconsin cherry growers. This funding is used to support the cherry industry through research, education, and promotion of Wisconsin-grown cherries.

The Madison, Wisconsin-based DATCP administers elections for Wisconsin commodity marketing boards. To learn more about marketing boards, visit here.

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The field day is designed for growers, packers, consultants, industry professionals, university researchers, and staff.

Participants will rotate through stations in small groups, allowing for in-depth discussions on topics such as soil health, apple rootstocks, pear integrated pest management (IPM), codling moth management, powdery mildew, computer vision analysis of fruit quality, X-disease management and beneficial insects.

Topics

• Apple rootstocks
• Beneficial insects
• Codling moth lures and traps
• Computer Vision Analysis of Fruit Quality
• Pear IPM
• Powdery mildew
• Soil health
• X-disease management

To register for the event and for more information, visit treefruit.wsu.edu/events.

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This initiative, in collaboration with Walmart Global Tech’s Sparkubate program, seeks to secure supply surety, reduce food waste and ensure fresh produce for shoppers.

The pilot will deploy Agritask’s remote sensing and data analytics tools in various U.S. and Mexican regions to provide real-time, hyperlocal insights on crops from select Walmart suppliers. The technology will monitor temperature fluctuations and moisture levels, significantly impacting crop growth, quality, transport, and shelf life.

“Dealing with challenges in purchasing and planning accuracy in agriculture due to data discrepancies and environmental uncertainties can be tough. Agritask’s technology has the potential to fill vital information gaps that sourcing managers often face when predicting yield,” said Kyle Carlyle, vice president of sourcing innovation and surety of supply at Walmart.

“Teaming up with Agritask enables Walmart to delve into more streamlined and sustainable sourcing practices, ensuring we consistently deliver fresh, high-quality products to meet customer demand,” added Carlyle.

“Walmart’s global scale and commitment to strengthening sustainable supply chains make them the ideal partner for Agritask’s tech solutions. Together, we are uniquely positioned to implement scalable, climate-smart, and risk-ready solutions that optimize sourcing from the ground up,” said Ofir Ardon, CEO of Agritask in the recent announcement of the partnership.

This pilot is Walmart’s latest effort to leverage technology for a sustainable and resilient supply chain, following previous initiatives like unspun’s 3D weaving technology and Rubi Laboratory’s carbon capture pilot.

For more information, visit Walmart’s website.

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One of the biggest help to growers these days are mobile apps, which can help farmers achieve optimized irrigation, targeted fertilization and enhanced field monitoring. With the use of a phone, growers can uncover a host of information and save themselves time and money in the process.

AgProz

AgProz offers software and mobile solutions that provide accurate and responsive crop acreage data, reliable marketing resources and analytics that help growers of all segments.

“We’re more tied to vendors and companies who are trying to find growers,” said John Krum, founder and CEO of AgProz. 

Krum started the company with the idea of overlaying agriculture data on a map, similar to Zillow for real estate. 

“With AgProz, what you’re able to do is from a map see how many acres a grower has, what kind of props are farmed, as well as a name and contact info,” Krum said. “Once I was able to pull out this information, I was no longer going in blind about what growers I could get in front of and help. It empowers companies like John Deere and others. It keeps the right people in front of the right growers.” 

The core product is the app, and now the data is being leveraged more from a marketing lens as a workforce tool.

“You can track certain things inside the app and navigating the workflow before doing follow-ups,” Krum said.

Doktar

Regardless of the crop focus — tree fruits, nuts, vegetables — Netherlands-based Doktar’s mobile app solutions help farmers make decisions on real-time data for precision farming and smart ag.

IoTrack is a mobile application that enables the management of the company’s Filiz Agricultural Sensor Station and PestTrap Digital Pest Tracking Station from a single platform. 

“Users can track their data flow and receive instant notifications from IoT-enabled devices, allowing them to make informed decisions and enhance efficiency,” said Tanzer Bilgen, CEO for Doktar.

Meanwhile, PestTrap is an IoT pest-tracking station that utilizes machine learning to accurately identify and count pests in real-time. It is suitable for use in fields, orchards, greenhouses, warehouses and forests. 

“With sticky paper and an integrated camera, PestTrap captures daily images and accurately identifies pest types,” Bilgen said. “Integrated with the IoTrack mobile application, PestTrap enables effortless remote tracking and sends notifications when pest levels reach a risk threshold.”

Users of PestTrap receive high-resolution images with its 5MP camera and can adjust the image frequency and timing options for more precise monitoring. 

“They can view pest species distribution and 48-hour spraying suitability assessments to take timely actions that reduce the economic impact of pests and optimize yields,” Bilgen said. “PestTrap’s machine learning algorithm recognizes region-specific pests, tracks their developmental cycle and learns to identify new pests accurately within two weeks.”

Both IoTrack and Orbit, an app that helps farmers monitor the health and development of their crops and identify underdeveloped, water-stressed or over-irrigated areas, enable farmers to view all data on their homepage and spot problems immediately.

“Overall, IoTrack helps implement practices for precision agriculture by instantly controlling irrigation problems, disease risks, microclimate weather conditions, calculating advanced agricultural metrics, and potential pest infestations,” Bilgen said. The app also helps track the timing of irrigation, spraying, and phenological stage changes in the field by recording them on time.

“Health, inspection and water stress maps are crucial,” Bilgen said. “With Orbit, you can monitor the weather hourly with the live precipitation and storm tracking feature and take timely precautions with frost risk and fungal disease risk notifications.”

Barn Owl Technologies

Barn Owl Technologies builds physical hardware that acts as an automatic scouting tool that helps growers with insect monitoring and provides early timing for growers to make early decisions for insect pest management.

“It will lead to a reduction on bug sprays and increase production,” said Richard Chen, Barn Owl Technologies’ president. “We are working with apple growers in Massachusetts and target harmful pests such as oriental fruit moth, codling moth, Obliquebanded leafroller, plum curculio, apple maggot and brown marmorated stink bug.”

The scouting can be implemented via a mobile app and provides first arrival dates (biofix) and weekly insect counting.

“Scouting insects is usually a weekly job for growers, but if they mess up the first arrival date, they spray all season long,” Chen said. “Finding first arrival date for growers requires them to scout every day, which is not feasible.” 

The company is also currently building an automatic trapping system for Colorado potato beetles and focusing its efforts on ground and crawling insects. 

One of the vegetable growers told Chen production by can be increased 25%-50% when early arrival dates for potato beetles are discovered, he said. 

Irrigation control

Other popular mobile apps include FieldNET Mobile, Agrobase and Pospera.

FieldNET Mobile allows growers to monitor and control irrigation systems from a mobile device, improving water efficiency and crop health. 

Agrobase, a crop protection database, provides comprehensive pest and disease identification, weed identification, plus agricultural news and trends.

Prospera offers pivot irrigation monitoring from an app, helping in irrigation planning and control.

Optical sorting equipment

Optical sorters are another area experiencing much innovation, with a big trend being the integration of AI, offering results akin to human inspection but at a significantly faster pace.

“This advancement involves the use of cameras with quicker processors to reduce collateral loss resulting from misdetection,” said Oscar Sandoval, California senior regional account manager at AMVT. “In response to this trend, our company has embraced AI by incorporating this feature into most of our sorter offerings, catering not only to bulk materials but also packaged goods. This addition aids in detecting issues such as improperly sealed bags or loosely capped jars, enhancing the sorting process for fruit/nut crop growers.”

These solutions ensure improved quality and cleanliness of the final product for consumers, minimizing the loss of good products in the reject pile. Ultimately, they enable growers to preserve a higher quantity of top-quality products.

“Compared to previous generations, the newer optical sorting equipment goes beyond traditional RGB technology, which relies on color differentiation,” Sandoval said. “The latest models analyze factors like size, color, texture and length to achieve precise separation, mirroring the discernment of the human eye utilizing AI.”

Another company taking advantage of AI is Taranis, which offers an advanced Open-Source Intelligence tool that utilizes AI and aerial imaging to monitor crops at higher resolutions than were done historically. This helps better detect pest issues, diseases and nutrient deficiencies early, enabling timely interventions.   

As agriculture continues to evolve with technological advancements including mobile apps, IoT devices, and AI-driven solutions, the future of farming is not just about innovation, it’s about precision, efficiency and sustainability for growers worldwide.

By Keith Loria

A graduate of the University of Miami, Keith Loria is an award-winning journalist who has been writing for almost 20 years. View his recent writing at keithloria.contently.com

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“Skylar Rae cherries are extra special, from their remarkable origin story to their unique flavor and crunch,” said Sarah Barkley, domestic sales at CMI Orchards. “Bursting with super sweet flavor and juice, and delivering a satisfying texture, they’re far superior to any other cherry.”

Discovered in 2004 by the Toftness family, Skylar Rae cherries emerged from a tree found after following a rainbow, a discovery that felt like a gift honoring their late daughter, Skylar Rae. Troy Toftness, co-owner of the Skylar Rae brand, noted that the cherries’ are rising in popularity and increasing volume, grown by selected growers in the U.S., Chile, New Zealand, and Australia, according to a recent CMI Orchards press release.

Skylar Rae cherries are known for their “caramel glow,” a bronzing indicating supreme sweetness. A short video explaining this feature is available for consumers.

For more information, visit cmiorchards.com.

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Scheduled for Oct. 22-24 in Woodland, California, 11 miles from the Sacramento International Airport, FIRA USA is set to provide growers and other industry personnel the opportunity to view new agricultural technology in action in the global ag robotics sector.

The core focus of the conference is to afford growers the opportunity to network, exchange feedback and to learn more about existing solutions through grower roundtables on specific crops sponsored by commodity boards, said Gwendoline Legrand, co-director for show sponsor FIRA and GOFAR (Global Organization for Agricultural Robotics).

“The end-users are the key. You can not develop disruptive solutions without having them in the loop,” Legrand said. “They need to share their vision, they need to touch, to test, to say ‘No, I want this that way’ and finally, get the exact systems that work for them. The growers’ needs is where everything started for FIRA. We are not showcasing and presenting robots and autonomous solutions as an end by themselves. Those machines need to represent a proper solution to specific needs, as diverse as the farmers are. The manufacturers understand that, and are very often building the solutions together with the growers, directly operating in the fields.”

Free grower admission

This year growers will receive free admission, a longtime World FIRA Europe policy that allows even more industry stakeholders and small to large-scale growers to leave the event with more autonomous and robotics technology information and vision, Legrand said.

To address the tree fruit industry’s automation needs, the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission and the California Almond Board are signed up as new sponsors.

Both organizations have long been part of FIRA USA support, promoting the event to their communities and visiting the show. This year, however, will be the first year the grower organizations decided to sponsor the event, to highlight the problems faced by tree fruit and nut growers, and to help them discover stand-alone solutions already on the market, Legrand said.

The sponsorships also prompt interest from other commodity boards and research institutes and motivate them to organize specific programs for their growers, she said.

As previous FIRAs explored many topics relating to ag robotics, organizers want this year’s education component to be as relevant as possible for growers, and include sessions designed to discuss issues growers are facing and existing autonomous solutions for individual crops.

Commodity group and research involvement are critical. Panelists are set to share stories on how the industry is “automation-ready” and provide examples of vendors working in the space with commodity groups and universities.

Tech solutions

The educational portion includes crop-specific themed roundtables covering topics including tree fruit automation and reducing spray drift and improving spray coverage in the almond and tree nuts industry. To address the tree fruit industry’s tech needs, sessions will include strategies, failures, plans and expectations and be focused on priority areas and timelines to affect crop load management and harvest labor, Legrand said.

Real-life demos will occur in the fields, displaying existing autonomous solutions from a variety of agtech firms. FIRA plans to include suppliers of autonomous irrigation solutions, a big leap forward for this year’s edition, she said.

To allow growers to lace their boots and trek through fields to see automation in action, a new event is being offered — a pre-show bus tour, Oct. 17- 21. The Cal Ag Robotics Discovery Tour is scheduled to show growers and other industry participants the latest in agricultural technology by visiting a wide range of farms and crops using tech across the Sacramento, Central and Salinas valleys.

Through viewing the operations’ daily challenges and the solutions they use, the California Ag Robotics Discovery tour will allow participants to immerse themselves in and deepen their market understanding of tech in California’s leading and most powerful growers, Legrand said. The five-day tour will bring a broad vision into fruit and nut trees, vineyards and berries, vegetables, including tomatoes and leafy greens, and supply a network of growers and participants at the stops, she said.

“This is what is impressive with many ag robots: They are versatile, they can adapt,” Legrand said. “This is also what we do with FIRA, through traveling across California to meet different growers, and present what could be their next-gen machines.”

The show will also tackle commodity commission funding, industry collaboration and automation readiness, with sessions showing participants the need for funding and investment to move products across the finish line, Legrand said.

France-based GOFAR is a nonprofit organization that promotes and develops the agricultural robotics sector at international level.

For more information, visit fira-usa.com.

—  By Doug Ohlemeier, Assistant Editor

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The funding is part of $300 million allocated to 66 U.S. organizations under the USDA’s new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP), designed to build demand for American food and farm exports in high-potential markets worldwide.

Fruit concerns include:

• Washington Apple Commission, $7 million
• Pear Bureau Northwest, $4 million
• California Cherry Marketing and Research Board, $750,000
• Cherry Marketing Institute, $450,000
• U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, $1.3 million,
• Cranberry Institute, $1 million
• California Table Grape Commission, $3.3 million
• California Prune Board, $4.2 million
• California Fresh Fruit Association, $1 million
• California Agricultural Export Council, $1 million
• Washington State Fruit Commission, $900,000
• New York Wine and Grape Foundation, $1.3 million,
• Northwest Wine Promotion Coalition, $2.4 million
• Organic Trade Association, $2.5 million

The full list of recipients is here.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack authorized $1.2 billion in Commodity Credit Corp. funding in launching RAPP to help U.S. exporters expand their customer base beyond established markets, focusing on regions including Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia.

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Michigan officials have confirmed the state’s second detection of the invasive spotted lanternfly (SLF)  in Monroe County.

SLF is a destructive pest that feeds on a wide variety of crops and plants, including cucumbers, basil, grapes, tree fruit including apples, cherries and peaches, as well as almond and walnut trees.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) announced that a small population of juvenile spotted lanternflies was discovered in Lambertville, Michigan, with the finding confirmed by USDA.

“The infestation was detected through monitoring traps deployed by Michigan State University (MSU), as part of collaborative survey initiatives with MSU, MDARD, and the USDA,” Steve Carlson, MDARD’s pesticide and plant pest management division director, said in a news release. “This work is critical in our efforts to identify and limit the spread of spotted lanternfly in Michigan.”

Native to eastern Asia, the spotted lanternfly first appeared in the U.S. in 2014 in southeastern Pennsylvania. It has since spread to 17 eastern and midwestern states. The insect is known to feed on a wide range of plants.

MDARD is collaborating with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, USDA, and Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas to assess the scope of the infestation and determine an appropriate response.

Residents are urged to help prevent the spread of spotted lanternfly by inspecting vehicles, crushing nymphs and adult insects, and reporting sightings online to Eyes in the Field. For more information, visit here.

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