A Softer Approach: Organic Tree Fruit Industry Continues to Grow
 A spectacular view down a row of cherry trees in Ray Fuller's orchard overlooking Lake Chelan. |
For Ray Fuller, the decision in the mid-1980s to raise tree fruit organically was a personal choice.
"I was looking at spending many years as an orchardist and spending a lifetime around pesticides wasn't going to be a good thing," he said. "I wanted a softer approach."
Easier said than done at the time. “There was very little information and very few tools on organic,” Fuller said. “I was bugging the guys here at the (WSU Tree Fruit Research and Extension) Center all the time.”
He credits scientists like Jay Brunner, director of the TFREC, with helping address some of the most pressing issues. Brunner developed a way to use pheromones to disrupt the mating cycle of codling moth, one of the most pervasive and destructive pests of tree fruit. (See related story: Pioneers of IPM.)
“Before Jay’s work, it was ‘That block has more coddling moth; it’s the first to go.’”
Since the 1980s, the organic tree fruit market has grown tremendously. In Washington, more than 10,000 acres of tree fruit orchards are certified organic, and that number continues to rapidly grow. The state of Washington produces more than half of the organic apples grown in the U.S.
“Tree fruit has been the hottest crop in the organic market,” said David Granatstein, WSU Extension educator with the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources and a former organic farmer himself. “There are more and more markets and more and more tools for organic growers to use.”
Granatstein calls organic farming “a blend of tradition and science.” Because organic growers are prohibited from using most farm chemicals, they have to find alternatives for fighting weeds and insects as well as fertilizing.
Responding to this need, Granatstein’s current research focuses on orchard mulch to discourage weeds. He is testing a variety of substances—everything from wood chips to “living” mulches such as thyme and sweet woodriff.
“We’re not there yet, by any means, but we’re learning and making progress,” he said. -Kathy Barnard
Organic Education
Organic food is one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture with retail sales escalating 20 percent annually since 1990, according to recent reports.
To help meet the organic food industry's need for highly educated employees, WSU launched the nation's first major in organic agriculture.
The Organic Agriculture Systems major is one of five options in the new Agriculture and Food Systems degree program.
The new interdisciplinary degree integrates coursework from all agricultural disciplines in the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences.
"We have changed our agricultural program to meet the demands of employers for well-rounded graduates who have critical thinking, communications and leadership skills as well as strong technical skills," said Ray Folwell, associate dean and director of academic programs in the college, now retired.
Attendees at the 2007 WSU Organic Field Day applaud a speaker. The field day is held each year at WSU's organic farm, located just east of the Pullman campus.
The major includes a summer practicum at WSU's three-acre organic farm on the east edge of campus. There, students will get hands-on experience in planting, nurturing, harvesting and marketing organic produce. For more information about the program, please visit Ag & Food Systems.