Efficient Orchard Management

Anyone in the world can design a complicated and costly planting system but it does take some genius and years of experience to simplify what appears to be very complex. I would like to summarize some of the information presented by Dr. Terence Robinson of Cornell University in his second talk in the Apple Program at the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Conference held this past February in Niagara.

Dr. Robinson quickly reviewed cost factors in apple growing. Everyone in the apple business is well aware of the cost increases they have been dealt in the last few years. By this, we are talking about labour, fuel, fertilizer and the like. Added to this is the reality that requirements are increasing for fruit quality, as are establishment costs and the general competitive nature of the business. So how do we combat this?

According to Terence, yield plays a huge role in combating and making the expense work for you. All the better if that yield is with a good price. Fruit that is returning $4.50/bu will not be profitable in any system of growing. As a starting point we want at least a 50 tonne/ha or 50 bin per acre yield on a sustained basis. Terence explained that the sooner we capture 70% of incoming sunlight the better and this is best achieved with plantings that are considered to be higher density as you would find in a tall spindle setup where trees are set out at around 1200 per acre.

It goes without saying that a moderately dense orchard of a higher paying cultivar is as good as a higher density planting with a poor paying cultivar. One of the keys to making this whole thing work is the way in which the feathered nursery tree performs immediately after planting.

The performance of the canopy of newly planted feathered trees is integrally related to the performance of the root system. With this in mind both irrigation and fertigation can have huge roles to play.

Newly planted trees are living pretty much on stored nitrogen. Experimental work has revealed that trees in years 1-3 can perform 50% better when treated with both water and nutrients in a fertigation system when compared to no irrigation at all. Feathered trees will struggle without irrigation being used within 2 weeks of planting if rainfall is insufficient. The nutrients that are commonly fed through the irrigation system include nitrogen and potassium, which are the two nutrients in most demand by apples.

In looking at bearing trees, each vertical meter should have a minimum of six generative shoots ready to bear. In economic terms, if you plant a high price variety and achieve a yield of 500 bushels in the second year, this is better than cost cutting on a lower priced cultivar in a low density system.

Certain economies can be achieved by growing your own trees if you can, according to Terence. The tall spindle system goes as far as it can before you leave the realm of “moderation of investment”. Furthermore, if you could grow your own “locust” posts by establishing an agroforestry type plantation this would further moderate the investment as some growers have done and are looking at in New York State.

Using a single wire in combination with conduit pipe starts to get really costly when you increase your planting density greater than you would typically see in the tall spindle system.

One of the outstanding differences between the tall spindle and modified central leader plantings, which are commonly freestanding, is the cost of management. By changing the tree’s shape to the tall spindle, we can potentially save half the costs for operations like pruning. Indeed if you incorporate mobile platform operations, you need a simple looking tree. The platforms will further reduce cost of management by an estimated 30%, according to Terence.

My observation with pruning the tall spindle is that a worker could be trained to simply go through the planting and remove the 2 or 3 largest limbs at point of origin or just take everything off that is greater than 2 cm in diameter at point of origin on the trunk without extensive training or knowledge of pruning and training practices.

In concluding his talk, Terence gave the group some insight into mechanization. He felt that partial mechanization with platforms working in a block with narrow-walled tree rows could work.

The idea of complete robotics, where an arm reaches out and a mechanical hand plucks an apple off the tree could lead to too much bruising and would be prohibitively costly for the average grower. These machines based on robotic arms and hands could easily be $500,000 each.

In closing out the talk Terence emphasized that reducing costs in an established block might not be nearly as good as newer plantings of better priced varieties. All of this information was backed up by 20 years of research work in New York State. The Conference proceedings are available and include Terence’s talks in a PowerPoint format.

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