WSU WA 38 FIELD DAY
Join WSU for a fall field day discussing horticulture and tips to optimize fruit quality of WA 38, WSU’s newest breeding program release. With more than 637,224 WA 38 trees in the ground already, WSU and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission are working hard to provide growers with the information they need to choose training systems, pruning systems, rootstocks, pollinizers, and management techniques for high quality fruit.
WA 38 Tips To Optimize Fruit Quality
September 27, 2017 @ 3:00 to 4:30 pm
WSU Sunrise Orchard, Rock Island WA
The focus of this field visit is management tips for consistently superior fruit quality. Stefano Musacchi, WSU Professor of Horticulture will demonstrate a new top grafting trial and discuss how horticulture systems impact pack out. Ines Hanrahan, Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, will describe tips to achieve high pack outs, including how to determine optimal harvest dates, pluses and minuses of one versus two picks, and the utility of pre-harvest fungicide applications. Karen Lewis, WSU Extension will show ways to incorporate mechanization, such as hedging, in WA 38 management.
- See the impacts of pruning, hedging and training strategies on fruit quality.
- Learn how to use the new WA 38 starch scale.
- Discuss management for high pack outs.
- Taste WA 38 fruit.
- See mechanical pruning tools.
Please note the Sept 6 field day in Prosser had to be canceled due to the later season. Fruit is not near enough to maturity for discussion.
Directions
WSU Sunrise Orchard, off highway 28 on Sunrise Lane, about 11 miles south of Wenatchee.
Organics and Cosmic Crisp will lead Washington Apple Industry
Washington State is ready to take the market lead for organic apples for 2017. Experts say that production has grown so much that Washington may have as much as fifteen percent of the total crop volume. Growers in Washington have the benefit of climate paired with the organic horticulture practices.
The new variety Cosmic Crisp is another thing Washington can brag about. Washington State has a 10-year exclusivity on the variety and with that deal growers plan to capitalize on the correlation between the state and the variety.
RED DELICIOUS APPLE LOSING ITS APPEAL IN FAVOR OF JAZZY NEWCOMERS LIKE COSMIC CRISP
Move over Red Delicious, Cosmic Crisp have a Fresh Taste
Red Delicious’ beautiful look has always caught shoppers’ eyes however newer varieties like Cosmic Crisp catch eyes and have memorable taste. Cosmic Crisp is a cross between the Enterprise and the Honeycrisp varieties. Besides being easy to grow, Cosmic Crisp already boasts top ratings for taste and texture from consumer focus groups.
International markets still love Red Delicious but Cosmic Crisp is expected to take on American markets much like the Honeycrisp once did.
Read the full article on Forbes’ website
THE BIGGEST NEED FOR THE PRODUCE INDUSTRY IS…
Returning recently from the Forbes AgTech Summit, the workshops made me think about innovations and how those developments will shape the future of the produce industry. Automation in the field, new hybrid electric technology for trucks, the Internet of things and more are coming our way.
In that vein, I wanted to check in with members of the LinkedIn Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group about their thoughts concerning the “biggest need” for the industry going forward.
Article by Tom Karst, The Packer
COSMIC CRISP™ APPLE HOPING TO BE OUT OF THIS WORLD
It takes years to develop a new variety. Cosmic Crisp – the newest apple variety – was 20 years in the making and began at Washington State University under an experimental fruit-breeding program. It’s anticipated to edge out older fruit, such as the outdated red delicious. It’s a naturally bred variety, a cross between Enterprise and Honeycrisp. “We like to think that it took the best qualities of both apples,” explained Kathryn Grandy, director of marketing for Proprietary Variety Management. PVM was brought on to provide its experience in research and development, consumer focus and brand development for the Cosmic Crisp.
an excerpt of an article written by Rebecca Dumais, Fresh Plaza
APPLE INDUSTRY READIES ITSELF FOR THE BIG THING CALLED COSMIC CRISP™
Washington’s apple industry enters a new world this year as growers plant the first of what, in just three short years, will be 11 million trees or more of the popular new variety, Cosmic Crisp.
If all goes as planned, production from those trees will eclipse the total U.S. production of all but the top half-dozen or so apple varieties by 2022.
Article by Shannon Dininny, Good Fruit Grower
Should Cosmic Crisp Have a ‘Utility Grade”
When it comes to grading standards for the new Washington State University apple variety Cosmic Crisp, Washington’s industry is already charting new territory.
Usually, grade standards for varieties are set by state statute, with input from the industry. Once those standards are set, they can be changed, but with time and effort.
Article by Shannon Dininny, Good Fruit Grower
WASHINGTON APPLE INDUSTRY’S NEW SUPER STAR
The Washington state apple industry is re-inventing the way it does business. The industry is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in a radically different strategy for introducing a new variety of apple, the Cosmic Crisp.
A cross between the Enterprise and the Honeycrisp varieties, Cosmic Crisp is easier to grow and store than most other varieties. Most importantly, consumer focus groups have given it top ratings for taste and texture.
The Cosmic Crisp has all the makings of a super star and will replace Red Delicious and other varieties whose popularity has flagged in recent years.
Article by Capital Press
COSMIC TIPS TO GROWING WA 38
The first commercial trees were planted this spring of the new apple variety WA 38, following nearly a decade of research into the horticultural traits at four research plantings and the storage behavior of the fruit.
Developed by Washington State University and marketed under the brand name Cosmic Crisp, the WA 38 has unique behavior compared to most scion varieties.
Those of us who’ve worked with the trees in the field have found the variety to be grower-friendly, but for those growers who’ve just planted their trees, here are the top five tips for the first year:
Article by Stefano Musacchi on Good Fruit Grower
GROWERS PIN BIG HOPES FOR COSMIC CRISP
Washington apple growers planted 630,000 new Cosmic Crisp apple trees this spring and will plant an estimated 10 million more trees over the next two years to revolutionize variety offerings of the nation’s largest apple-producing state.
MANSON, Wash. — Chris Anderson is in his 37th year of operating a small apple orchard once owned by his father on the north shore of Lake Chelan.
He’s among more than 50 Washington growers selected in a drawing for this spring’s first planting of the Cosmic Crisp, a new apple variety that industry leaders hope will usher in a new era.
