We partner with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wayne, Orleans, Niagara, Monroe, and Oswego Counties, Cornell University Cooperative Extension and faculty to provide educational programs for the commercial fruit industry, using research-based information to help the tree fruit and berry industries in New York compete in the world market and provide safe, high-quality produce for consumers.

Objectives:

• Maintain competitiveness and profitability of NY fruit farms in a global market.
• Evaluate new technology for potential increases in efficiency through applied research.
• Assist in the adoption and implementation of appropriate technologies.
• Reduce financial, legal, labor, environmental, and health risks.
• Improve production and delivery of high quality fruit to consumers.

Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training Course

June 13, 2017
8am-5:15pm
Newark, NY

Fruit and vegetable growers and others interested in learning about produce safety, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), and co-management of natural resources and food safety. The PSA Grower Training Course is one way to satisfy the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement outlined in 112.22(c) that requires 'At least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration.'

2017 LOF Summer Fruit Tour - Sticking to the Lake!

July 12, 2017
Registration & DEC Credit Sign Up, 8 AM, Program Runs 8:30 AM to approximately 4 PM

We have applied for ~1.75 hrs of DEC Credits, split into an AM & PM Session

There is no charge to attend, thanks to Sponsor and Donor support, but pre-registration will be required for accurate lunch counts and handouts.

Registration information to follow in our next newsletter (~ June 15), and also on our website

Stop 1 - Lakeside Orchards, Burt, NY
Leopard moth: Trojan horse or resident alien? Tess Grasswitz, Doug Ingersoll
Nutrition on High Value Apple Varieties - Lailiang Cheng, Mario Miranda Sazo, John King

Stop 2 Bittner-Singer Orchards, Appleton, NY
Establishing a Perpendicular V system in Peaches & Nectarines - Kevin Bittner, Mario
Miranda Sazo
An Organic Tall Spindle Apple Orchard - Kevin Bittner, Art Agnello, Kerik Cox
Precision Irrigation for High Density Apples on Dwarfing Rootstocks - Jaume Lordan

Stop 3 Zingler Farms, Kendall, NY
Precision Chemical Thinning Multiple Years - Poliana Francescatto, Mario Miranda Sazo, Jimmy Zingler)
Receive AM DEC credits

Stop 4 Lunch - Zingler Farms, same location, 12-1:30 PM
Network with Sponsors, growers/industry
Equipment Demos
Robotic Crop Estimator & others
DEC credits PM registration

Stop 5 Burch Farms, Frank & Hale Burch Farms, Hilton, NY
Brown Marmorated Stinkbug Trap Comparison - Art Agnello, Tess Grasswitz, Jim Burch
Mechanisms of Resistance Research in Fire Blight and Scab - Awais Khan

Stop 6 West Wind Fruit Farm & Blue Barn Cidery, Hilton, NY
Fine-tuning the Oxbo Mechanical Blueberry Harvester - Jeremy Wolfe
An update on Spotted Wind Drosophila in Raspberries and other crops - Greg Loeb
Peck Lab Hard Cider Research Updates - Greg Peck, Craig Kahlke
Receive DEC credits
Adjourn ~ 4 PM
Optional Hard Cider tasting inside the new Blue Barn Cidery - Jill & Jeremy Wolfe

Mechanical Blossom Thinning Video

Click link for Details.
Mechanical blossom thinning video and story.
https://lof.cce.cornell.edu/submission.php?id=449&crumb=crops|crops|apples|crop*38

Spray Mixing Instructions Considering TRV

Spray Mixing Instructions Considering Tree Row Volume - TRV

Spray Mixing Instructions Considering Tree Row Volume - TRV
Terence Robinson, Poliana Francescatto, Cornell University
Win Cowgill, Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University

Click below for full article:

https://rvpadmin.cce.cornell.edu/uploads/doc_569.pdf

Precision Chemical Thinning in 2017

Precision Chemical Thinning in 2017 for Gala and Honeycrisp

Poliana Francescatto, Craig Kahlke, Mario Miranda Sazo, Terence Robinson

full article pdf. available here: https://lof.cce.cornell.edu/submission.php?id=448&crumb=crops|crops|apples|crop*38

2017 Census of Agriculture

Producers who are new to farming or did not receive a Census of Agriculture in 2012 still have time to sign up to receive the 2017 Census of Agriculture report form by visiting www.agcensus.usda.gov and clicking on the ‘Make Sure You Are Counted' button through June. NASS defines a farm as any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year (2017).

For more information about the 2017 Census of Agriculture and to see how census data are used, visit www.agcensus.usda.gov or call (800) 727-9540.

Save the Date - LOF Summer Tour is July 12

Time All Day
Location TBA, 4-5 farms west of Rochester
Contact for Info/Registration: Stay Tuned to Website for Updates
Annual Summer Tour Visiting Cutting Edge Farms

"Visual Guide" for March Pruning

A Practical "Visual Guide" for March Pruning of Young and Semi-Young High Density Apple Plantings
Mario Miranda Sazo

The document is a practical and colorful visual guide that shows some important pruning cuts to better grow and train the "money makers" Gala, Honeycrisp, and Fuji trees. The pruning cut decisions are easy to follow and their objectives are simple.  More information and the guide can be found here: https://lof.cce.cornell.edu/submission.php?id=440&crumb=crops|crops|apples|crop*38

2017 LOF Winter Fruit School Presentations

2017 Winter Fruit School presentations that have been approved by the presenters are now available here https://lof.cce.cornell.edu/submission.php?id=425&crumb=crops|crops|apples|crop*38; past LOF Winter Fruit School presentations approved for public distribution can be found under the Apples at the bottom in a list.

Working with a Spanish Speaking Workforce

Please use the link below to watch a YouTube video in which Libby Eiholzer, Bilingual Dairy Specialist of the Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Team and Mario Sazo, Extension Associate of the Lake Ontario Fruit Program discuss Building Campus County Connections: Working with a Spanish Speaking Workforce.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YkXmboxStE&feature=youtu.be

2016 Apple Crop Survey Results

The 2016 Apple Crop Survey Results are now available.  Click here for results.

Apple System Payback Calculator Now Available!

Apple System Payback Calculator
You can down load this spreadsheet to help you calculate the return on investment for an orchard system you are considering to plant or invest in.

New York Apples and Hard Cider Classifieds

A new on-line classifieds has been launched to help apple growers and hard cider producers "connect" and conduct business. This website allows users to post items for sale and items for purchase. The site is not exclusive to growers and hard cider producers selling and buying to each other. The site can also be used for grower to grower business and hard cider producer to hard cider producer business. Click the following link to start the website: www.nyahcclassifieds.com. Click the following to download basic instructions on navigating the site: NYAHC Classifieds Notice