Lynn E. Long Horticulture Extension Agent Oregon State University Wasco County Extension

Sweet Cherry Pickings

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January 2001 Newsletter

After mailing the last newsletter, I became aware of three errors in my article entitled "Orchard Replant Decisions".

Chelan: Experience in Wasco County indicates that Chelan does harvest 10 to 12 days before Bing.

Sonata: This cherry is susceptible to rain cracking.

Skeena: The fruit is very large, a full gram (not ounce) larger than Lapins.

Dave Burkhart wrote and asked me to print the following statement: "At the Extension breakfast meeting in December I was asked a question by Steve Rempel as to whether I had see pitting in Lapins that were grown in the hotter districts. I answered "yes" but after further thought realized that I had erred in my answer. My conclusion had come from conversations with fieldmen and not from my own observations."

Mid-Columbia Soil Quality & Health Workshop - February 15, 2001

Mark your calendars for February 15th to attend the Mid-Columbia Soil Quality & Health Workshop sponsored by the Mid-Columbia Oregon and Washington State University Extension Services, Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Natural Resource & Conservation Service. The workshop will be held at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center Theater in The Dalles from 12:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. The purpose of the workshop is to explore the factors that affect soil quality and health and how they impact small grain yields, plant disease and insect resistance for the small grains producing areas of the Mid-Columbia. The following is an overview of the workshop schedule.

12:45 p.m.	Introductions - Brian Tuck, Dusty Eddy and Ron Graves
1:00 -  1:15 p.m.	Soil Quality - Why Do We Care - Dr. Steve Petrie (Superintendent  Columbia  Basin Research Center)
1:15 -  1:45 p.m.	Soil Nutrition - Dr. Don Wysocki (OSU Soils Specialist)
1:45 -  2:15 p.m.	Soil Organic Matter Dr. Steve Albrecht (USDA Crop & Soil Scientist)
2:15 -  2:45 p.m.	Soil Micro flora (Bacteria/Fungi) Dr. Steve Albrecht (USDA Crop and  Soil  Scientist)
2:45 -  3:00 p.m.	Break
3:00 -  3:30 p.m.	Soil Macro Flora (Soil Insects) Dr. Andy Moldenke (OSU Entomologist
3:30 -  3:45 p.m.	Soil Organisms (Worms) - Dr. Stewart Wuest (USDA Agronomist)
3:45 -  4:15 p.m.	Small Grains Soil Pathogens - Dr. Richard Smiley (OSU Plant  Pathologist)
4:15 -  5:00 p.m.	Putting It All Together - Speaker Panel

There is no charge for this workshop. Pre-registration is requested by contacting the Wasco County Extension Office at 541-296-5494.

As an extension of the workshop, the Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District Annual Meeting will follow with a planned social hour at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m. co-sponsored by the Wasco Co. Wheat Growers, Livestock Association and the Fruit & Produce League. Cost for the Dinner is $15.00 per person. To register for the SWCD Annual Meeting, please contact the Wasco County SWCD Office at 541-296-6178 by February 12, 2001.

As I traveled across Europe on my recent sabbatical I was somewhat surprised to find that the Integrated Fruit Production or IFP program in Europe was rapidly changing. Six years ago the IFP program seemed to be well established and relatively stable in places like the South Tyrol of Italy, Switzerland and the low countries of the Netherlands and Belgium.

I expected to find that the program had expanded into countries where there had been little or no previous interest. And such was, indeed, the case. I found new programs in place or being developed in the Jerte and Ebro Valleys of Spain, Provence, France, England and even Eastern Europe. What I did not expect to find, however, was that the driving force behind these changes was coming from supermarket chains and not government programs or growers themselves.

More than anything else, two recent incidents, initially appearing unrelated, played a significant role in impacting the IFP program in Europe. The first of these events was the Mad-Cow or Bovine Spongiform Encephalophy disease in England, the second, a Dioxin scandal in Belgium. With the intent of preventing future incidents, European legislators passed a law making retail stores liable for the safety of the food they sell. This meant that supermarkets could be held directly responsible for food safety issues.

In the United Kingdom (U.K.), government pesticide safety inspectors began to systematically test fruit in supermarkets for pesticide residue and publish the name of the retail store which carried the fruit in what Jerry Cross, a scientist at the East Malling Research Station in England, termed a "name and shame" operation. If residues were found above the maximum allowable, stores were prosecuted. Consequently, Cross maintained, "stores are in a panic."

In order to combat the perceived legal and public relations threats, representatives from 15 of the largest supermarket chains in Europe formed a retail association called the Euro Retailer Group or EUREP. These retailers have combined forces to develop their own integrated standards for food production. Growers wishing to sell produce to any of these stores must adhere to these standards. Their guidelines state that:

"All growers should be able to demonstrate their commitment to:
maintaining consumer confidence in food quality and safety;
minimize detrimental impact on the environment, whilst conserving nature and wildlife;
reduce the use of agrochemicals through adoption of Integrated Production systems;
improve efficiency of use of natural resources such as soil, water, air and energy;
ensure a responsible attitude to worker health and safety, welfare and training."

So far, the standards themselves are relatively easy to comply with. However, Jerry Cross who originally introduced the IFP concept to growers in the U.K. is concerned about the trend towards supermarket intervention. Cross contends that growers who can't or don't comply with the new standards are at significant risk since major supermarkets will not purchase their produce. He argues that this would mean financial ruin for the grower since supermarkets purchase 80% of the produce grown in the U.K. and pay the highest prices.

Even pioneer IFP programs such as AGRIOS in the South Tyrol have fallen under the scrutiny of EUREP representatives. Although AGRIOS standards are more demanding than those of EUREP, the AGRIOS program must be approved by EUREP. Dr. Walther Waldner, director of the South Tyrolean Extension Service, commented that he is now visited three or four times a year by EUREP representatives. They freely question him about the AGRIOS program, visit packing houses, inspect records and interview workers to assure compliance.

In an attempt to influence U.K. guidelines the National Farmers Union (a grower organization) formed a working group with the major U.K. supermarket chains to write a standard guideline for the U.K. Out of this effort came what is known as the "Assured Produce Scheme". These guidelines have some commonality with IFP but are mostly focused on complying with legal requirements. Growers must certify that they have conformed to a long list of relevant legislation ranging from the clean air act to worker safety. If they answer no to any of the pertinent questions they automatically fail. Inspectors follow-up on applications to make sure of compliance. The failure rate during the first year was over 30%. Growers that fail are fined $300 to $450 and they must re-enter the program.

Growers, packing house representatives and scientists throughout Europe uniformly expressed concern over the efforts of large supermarket chains to dictate the direction of the IFP program. Just as uniformly, however, growers and packing houses were complying with these new regulations or were writing their own guidelines to comply with the standards set by EUREP. Most believed there was little that could be done to counter the power EUREP held over European producers. Perhaps most disconcerting, however, was the belief by every individual that I talked to that this same retail association would eventually demand the same standards of American producers wishing to sell produce in Europe.

Oregon and Washington pesticide recertification credits have been applied for.

Oregon and Washington pesticide recertification credits have been applied for.

Fruit and Tree Characteristics:	Interpretive Footnotes
a   data lacking on Gisela 12 b   large harvest window c   sensitive to frosts immediately before and during bloom d   susceptible to nose cracks due to blossom and dimple e   nose cracks may cause sort-out grading by inspectors f   wind damage can be a problem in early years g   trees show some cold sensitivity h   fruit quality may be detrimentally affected in hot sites l    fruit firmness may be a concern Note: Information provided in this chart is 'best available' and subject to change	1  Listed in days and relative to Bing      (-) earlier and (+) later  2  Subjective measurement
	Lynn E. Long  O.S.U. Extension Service

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