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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CROP PROGRESS

Peach harvesting continues, with early pear and apple harvests also underway. Premier Honeycrisp and Wildfire Galas will mature in the next couple of weeks. “Stop-drop materials can be very useful to manage harvest windows during this early season, especially if color is a concern,” advises Lindsay Brown of MSU Extension.

Gingergold apples, sampled in Kent County, are nearing maturity, developing a nice blush but still tasting slightly starchy. Paulared apples are mature and being harvested this week, though some show signs of watercore. Zestar! apples, also sampled in Kent County, are set for harvest this week.

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

MSU Extension recommends continuing control measures for bitter rot and black rot and staying vigilant for sooty blotch and flyspeck, which are now visible. Cherry leaf spot is widespread, leading to early defoliation in some orchards. Bacterial canker of stone fruits is also a concern this season, causing “shot hole” in leaves and brown lesions on fruit.

INSECT ACTIVITY

Codling moth populations are declining as the second generation of adults finish their egg deposition. Obliquebanded leafroller and oriental fruit moth populations are present but in low numbers. MSU Extension advises monitoring for fruit damage and leaf skeletonization from Japanese beetles and rose chafers.

MSU’s full update is available online.

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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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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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The USDA is expanding crop insurance options for specialty and organic growers starting with the 2025 crop year. Some of the key changes for 2025 will impact almond and walnut growers.

The USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is introducing new coverage options and policy updates, including enterprise units by organic farming practice and expanded eligibility for various crops.

“The Risk Management Agency is excited to expand coverage options for specialty and organic growers,” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger in a press release. “Expanding our coverage options gives producers more opportunities to manage their risks.”

2025 CROP YEAR CHANGES

Key changes for the 2025 crop year include:

• Expand Enterprise Units (EU) to crops including apples, pears, prunes, citrus, almonds, avocados, figs, macadamia nuts, pears, prunes, almonds and walnuts.
• Allow EUs by organic farming practice for apples, pears, prunes, citrus, figs, fresh and processing tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, almonds and walnuts.
• Allow non-contiguous parcels of land that qualify for Optional Units (OU) to also qualify for EU.

The changes are part of the Expanding Options for Specialty and Organic Growers Final Rule, which updates several crop insurance policies and provisions.

ADDITIONAL CHANGES 

Additional changes in the June 30 Final Rule include:

New Breaking Acreage

• • Reduce administrative burdens on growers and the delivery system by removing written agreement requirements on new breaking acreage.
  • Reduce coverage penalties on perennial specialty crop producers and producers of intensively managed crops, such as alfalfa, when they move to row crop production. This allows for a seamless transition without losing crop insurance coverage.

Assignment of Indemnity

• Provide flexibility for an indemnity payment to be issued via automated clearing house (ACH) or other electronic means when these methods do not allow for multiple payees.

Good Farming Practices (GFP)

• Streamline and shorten the FCIC GFP reconsideration process by closing the administrative file following FCIC’s initial GFP determination.

Double Cropping and Annual Forage

• Clarify a producer must prove insurance history for the annual forage crop and meet the current double cropping requirements to receive a full prevented planting payment.

The USDA’s efforts are part of the broader Specialty Crops Competitiveness Initiative aimed at increasing the competitiveness of specialty crops in both domestic and international markets.

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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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The Associated International Group of Nurseries (AIGN), now 12 members strong, gathered in France the last week of May for their 2024 annual general meeting.

Based in Yakima, Washington, the organization represents nurseries that propagate tree fruit for conventional and organic production.

The meeting’s host company, Star Fruits, arranged several pre-meeting activities and events in Paris, prior to the group commencing the week-long agenda in the city of Avignon.

This year’s theme, “Moving ahead during difficult times,” was used as a catalyst for discussion about how the 36-year-old company can continue to adapt and evolve during these uncertain times, according to a news release.

“The consequences of climate change on fruit growing are just beginning to unfold,” Gavin Porter, AIGN’s CEO, said in the release. “AIGN recognizes the urgency to help orchardists address these challenges by seeking out and supporting the development of new rootstocks and fruit varieties with greater tolerance to warmer growing areas, and being prepared to commercialize them when the tide of the economic downturn changes.”

The assembly featured an educational segment for the directors with a day devoted to a site visit to SICASOV, where AIGN’s members learned about their work with Global Gap, and how they ensure fruits are legal from an IP perspective.

This was followed by a presentation from representatives of Naktuinbouw, the high health facility in the Netherlands and their affiliated organizations.

One of AIGN’s strengths is their global member-network, which allows the company to distribute plant materials on a broad scale for testing and evaluation prior to commercial release. Before distribution of a cultivar can take place, however, all materials are required to undergo evaluation by a Clean Plant Center, where the plants must be certified as disease and pathogen free, and affirmed as meeting the phytosanitary requirements of the destination country, according to the release.

In recent years, AIGN has come to rely on Naktuinbouw to clean and certify plant materials due to their efficiency and exceptional communication practices. Therefore, it was of great interest to the members to gain a better understanding of Naktuinbouw’s operations, according to the release.

The meeting closed with plans underway to meet in spring of 2025 in Santiago, Chile. AIGN member Viveros Requinoa of LTDA will host the event.

AIGN internationally has developed and introduced new rootstocks and varieties of deciduous trees for more than 35 years. The organization specializes in global management of intellectual property, utilizing their relationships with the leading plant breeders to secure propagation rights for new varieties, extensively testing, evaluating and marketing new products that benefit nursery owners and stakeholders.

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It has been more than 10 years since Pink Lady America LLP (PLA) filed an application before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for the Wild Pink wordmark, stirring a longstanding opposition by other apple and pear concerns.

The dispute concerned the likelihood of confusion and breach of reputation with earlier Pink Lady trademarks involving Apple and Pear Australia Ltd. and its EU Licensee Star Fruits Diffusion, according to a news release from the Yakima, Washington, based Pink Lady America. 

The dispute went through the assessments of the former Office for Harmonization in the International Market, Opposition Division, and its Board of Appeal, both with a favourable outcome for PLA. It then made it all the way to the EU General Court and was involved in various rulings.

Five years and many submissions later, the Board of Appeal remitted the case back to the Opposition Division, deeming it appropriate to ensure a review process, and also due to the arguments put forward by the parties in the course of the proceedings, according to the release.

With its April 25 decision, the EUIPO Opposition Division issued two decisions in respect of the wordmark and figurative EUTM (European Union trade mark) applications: dismissing the oppositions as well as the opponent’s requests to reopen the examination of the applied-for mark, according to the release. 

“The decisions, following important historical and judicial events as Brexit … carry out a thorough examination of the numerous criteria to be considered in signs and goods comparison, especially where the earlier marks enjoy a considerable reputation for some of the goods concerned (in this case, apples).” according to the release.

In respect of the likelihood of confusion, the Opposition Division thus found that “Consequently, despite the reputation of the earlier marks ‘PINK LADY’, the coincidence in the non-distinctive verbal element ‘PINK’ and the low degree of overall similarity it causes are insufficient to lead the consumers, even if displaying a low degree of attention, to perceive that even identical goods bearing the contested sign originate from the same or economically linked undertakings. Likelihood of confusion is even less likely in relation to the goods found to be similar to a low degree,” according to the release.  

Furthermore, with respect to the “link” between the signs, the Opposition Division found that “The necessity of such a ‘link’ between the conflicting marks in consumers’ minds is not explicitly mentioned in Article 8(5) EUTMR but has been confirmed by several judgments,” according to the release.

The Office then concluded that “it is highly unlikely that the relevant public will make a mental connection between the signs in dispute, that is to say, establish a ‘link’ between them,” according to the release. 

As a result, the oppositions were rejected in their entirety, and the Opponent was ordered to pay the fees and costs incurred by the Applicant, according to the release.

All the decisions issued by EU authorities in the long saga are available here.

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Baugher received the honor during the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in late January.

As he accepted the award from presenter Brad Hollabaugh, Baugher had a simple explanation for why he was on stage.

“I guess the only thing I can say is, when you’re raised by excellent people and surrounded by them your whole life, it’s hard not to do well,” he said, after thanking his wife and family for their support. In his introduction, Hollabaugh made it clear Baugher has volunteered his time to help the state’s fruit industry. He’s served on the SHAP board and has been its president, and has been involved with the Adams County Fruit Growers Association, the Pennsylvania State Pesticide Advisory Board, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and other groups.

“He has given his time and talents to serve the industry in many aspects, including horticultural, legislative and regulatory involvement,” said Hollabaugh, president of Hollabaugh Brothers, Biglerville, Pennsylvania. “Over the years, we often worked together on legislative issues, and I know that his involvement with Farm Bureau was very helpful in forging a strong relationship between that organization and the fruit industry at large,” Hollabaugh said.

He credited Baugher with experimenting with different production systems for fruit trees and working to improve sprayer equipment at his operation. Baugher, who has been an orchard manager throughout his career, represents the fourth generation at Adams County Nursery, Aspers, Pennsylvania.

He’s a big proponent of volunteering, and is known for encouraging others to pitch in during the Pennsylvania Farm Show and its annual apple sale, a SHAP fundraiser. SHAP also recognized Hollabaugh Brothers for earning the Best Bushel and Best Roadside Fruit Market Exhibit during the Pennsylvania Farm Show in early January.

The family operation placed in dozens of categories. The annual show awards hundreds of ribbons for different packages of apples, pears and other fruit. The annual cider award competition was Jan. 30.

The first place winner is Metrick’s Harvest View Farm, Butler, Pennsylvania. Second place is Scholl Orchards, Bethlehem. Third place is Hands on the Earth Orchard, Lititz.

— Chris Koger, managing editor

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