by Linda McCandless
Geneva, NY - Herman Sigrist of Waterloo came to Cornell's Agricultural Experiment Station's Fruit Field Day in Geneva because he gets $2 for every pint of raspberries he produces and he wants to plant more. Caleb Torrice, of Fruit Valley Orchard in Oswego, whose family farms 100 acres of apples, apricots, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, and raspberries, was particularly interested in Terence Robinson's explanation of apple production and yield on the v-trellis system. Bill Wickham, from Hector, who is increasing his farm's U-Pick operation, came for the presentations on grapes, stone fruits, and berries.
In all, 210 people attended the Fruit Field Day on August 13. By far the greatest percentage were growers, but representatives from nurseries, NYS Ag & Markets, government, Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, processors, and industry participated in the bus tours that went out at staggered intervals, cycling through the Hansen, Loomis, Robbins, Darrow and Lucey farms, as well as Research North and South. Many prominent growers were in attendance, including Darrel Oakes, of Lyndonville, Tom Prejean of Prejean Winery in Penn Yan, Elizabeth Ryan, from Poughkeepsie, Peter TenEyck from Altamont, Fritz Wafler of Walcott, Jim Bitner from Barker, and Tom DeMarree, of Williamson.
"We were gratified to see such a good turnout during the busy middle of the season, and that the majority of people who came actually were growers, as was our intention," said entomologist Art Agnello, who organized the Field Day with horticultural scientist Terence Robinson. "We would have liked to see a few more representatives of the grape industry but the amount of interest in the stone fruit and small fruit segments was encouraging, as an emphasis in these commodities needs to be maintained for New York to realize its potential in these crops."
The tours took in over 30 presentations and poster sessions developed by members of the departments of horticultural science, entomology, food science and technology, plant pathology, Integrated Pest Management, and the Plant Genetics Resources Unit. Hands-on demonstrations were made on fruit breeding, production systems, integrated pest management, genetic engineering, crop physiology, water and nutrient management, and enology. The Station's plantings of tree fruits, stone fruits, grapes and small fruits, including apples, peaches, plums, pears, cherries, wine and juice grapes, strawberries and raspberries were highlighted, with presentations made at each of the various stops.
"Very impressive," was the comment of a major fruit grower to Director Jim Hunter about the Field Day, and Assemblyman Bob Oakes, who once was an apple judge at a Rochester fruit fair, and said he "learned more today than in all past experience."
"The growers and others who participated saw first-hand the diversity and high quality of the field research at Geneva and its relevance to the future of the fruit industry in New York," said Director Jim Hunter. "We demonstrated to the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets, who attended the Field Day, the importance of programs at the Station to the economy of New York State. We hope this message gets back to Albany."
In comments made during lunch, Hunter noted the importance of the work being done at the Station to industry. "These long-term type studies need sustained staffing and sustained funding," he said and went on to brag that "the Station has the best group of scientists anywhere in the U.S. "dedicated to improving the fruit industry in New York State."
Don Davidsen, Commissioner of Ag & Mkts, maintained that the recently passed budget, "was full of good things for agriculture." Daryl Lund, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was "impressed" with the "quality and vigor" of the fruit industry of New York, and noted that industry improvement comes from a partnership of the "private" and "public" sector, saying he was anxious to see the "Geneva Initiative" put forward in the public arena in the next budget cycle. Dan Donahue, executive secretary of the New York State Horticultural Society, reiterated the importance of a "team" approach to problem solving, saying "this kind of event shows what can be done with the public-private partnership."
Merck Agvet sponsored the event, and Cadbury Schweppes and National Grape provided the juice breaks.
PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE
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