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CapitalPress.com
November 4, 2016
People & Places
Keeping apples fresher longer
David Rudell seeks
new techniques to
improve controlled
atmosphere storage
Western
Innovator
Capital Press
Interested in trees
Raised in Walla Walla,
Rudell worked summers on
area farms during his high
school and college years,
combining wheat and driving
trucks and tractors.
At the University of Ida-
ho, he became interested in
forestry and then fruit trees.
He liked testing things in the
laboratory. His senior project
was the infiltration of apples
with calcium to improve firm-
ness.
“I tend to be more bio-
chemist. I enjoy playing with
instruments,” Rudell says.
Established 1928
Board of directors
Mike Forrester ..........................President
Steve Forrester
Kathryn Brown
Sid Freeman .................. Outside director
Mike Omeg .................... Outside director
Corporate officer
John Perry
Chief operating officer
By DAN WHEAT
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
Treatment of apples in con-
trolled atmosphere storage
isn’t something that most peo-
ple spend much time thinking
about.
But researching how to
do it better is David Rudell’s
job — and it’s one he finds re-
warding.
Rudell, 44, has been a re-
search plant physiologist at
the USDA Agriculture Re-
search Service Tree Fruit Re-
search Laboratory since 2006.
He works with team leader
Jim Mattheis and associate
Loren Honaas investigating
physiological
postharvest
disorders in apples and pears,
particularly when caused by
chilling stress in storage.
How much cold can an ap-
ple withstand — and for how
long — and stay fresh?
The answers depend on
many variables including the
apple variety, condition and
degree of maturity at harvest.
Controlled atmosphere stor-
age includes regulating hu-
midity, oxygen, nitrogen and
carbon dioxide.
Capital Press
David Rudell
Age: 44
Born and raised: Born in
Los Angeles, raised in Walla
Walla, Wash.
Family: Single, two daugh-
ters, 13 and 10.
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Plant physiologist David Rudell works with a high-tech machine that measures sugars and acids —
and a broad spectrum of natural chemicals in apples and soil — at the Agricultural Research Service
laboratory in Wenatchee, Wash. The instrument in the background measures aroma.
He began working at the
ARS Tree Fruit Research
Laboratory before obtaining
his doctorate in horticulture at
Washington State University
in 2005. Afterward, he joined
the laboratory as a full-time
researcher.
While working on his
master’s degree he became
interested in apple aroma and
flavor and how storage and
transportation influence them.
Scald research
He looks for factors that
cause disorders or conditions
such as superficial scald,
which is a browning of the ap-
ple’s skin induced by chilling
stress. Such apples are still
edible but aren’t attractive.
He has found that some
varieties are more susceptible
than others.
“When an industry relies
on maintaining product qual-
ity in storage for up to 12
months, it’s important to have
someone like Dave who un-
derstands what’s happening
to the fruit at the biochemical
level and can use that to help
develop early warning systems
when precursors to disorders
are detected,” said Kate Evans,
WSU horticulturist and tree
breeder.
Superficial scald, Hon-
eycrisp disorders and injury
from elevated levels of carbon
dioxide are Rudell’s areas of
interest.
“I have a little bit of an ob-
session with different types of
cell death disorders (brown-
ing). It’s not only because it
impacts the industry but from
a scientific standpoint it im-
proves our knowledge of chill-
ing stress of lots of different
crops and plant species,” he
said.
Chilling damage
Many aspects of browning
aren’t caused by rot or fun-
gus but by the fruit “shutting
down” from chilling in com-
bination with other conditions,
he said.
Recently, Rudell and Chris
Watkins, a postharvest phys-
iologist at Cornell University
in Ithaca, N.Y., co-directed a
project with international and
domestic academic and indus-
try partners. It yielded targets
that can be used to assess the
risk of developing postharvest
disorders and a “trove of new
information about metabolism
that precedes and is associated
with these postharvest losses,”
Rudell said.
The research was funded
by the National Institute of
Food and Agriculture.
‘Good’ stress
They’ve worked on find-
ing techniques that impose
non-damaging “good” stress
immediately following harvest
to eliminate a specific type of
peel browning for up to a year
without sacrificing fruit quality.
For example, chilling fruit,
warming it and then chilling it
again can reduce scald. Also,
scald doesn’t occur in the skin
close to a bruise or injury prior
to storage nor does it occur on
sun-damaged skin.
“This tells us that injury
and some yet-to-be understood
adaptation to that injury seems
to fix cold stress,” he said.
“We’re trying to chase scald
off the chart so you don’t see it
in the supply chain, and partic-
ularly the longer supply chain
where fruit is going overseas.”
With advanced equip-
ment, they can get snapshots
of chemical components and
gene expression in apples from
peel samples. They have iden-
Capital Press Managers
Mike O’Brien .............................Publisher
Joe Beach ..................................... Editor
Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor
Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager
Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager
Entire contents copyright © 2016
EO Media Group
dba Capital Press
An independent newspaper
published every Friday.
Education: Bachelor’s
degree in plant science,
University of Idaho, 1996;
master’s degree in horti-
culture, Washington State
University, 2000; doctorate in
horticulture, WSU, 2005.
Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is
published weekly by EO Media Group,
1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97301.
Occupation: Plant physiol-
ogist at the Agricultural Re-
search Service Wenatchee
Tree Fruit Research Labora-
tory since 2006.
POSTMASTER: send address changes to
Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR
97308-2048.
tified changes in the chemis-
try of Granny Smith apples
months before they develop
superficial scald. This more
directed risk assessment can
improve storage protocols.
The Mattheis, Rudell and
Honaas team, along with Car-
olina Torres del Campo, a tree
fruit physiologist at the Uni-
versity of Talca in Chile, are
investigating diagnostic and
adaptive approaches to de-
layed peel browning in apples
caused by light conditions in
orchards.
With WSU professor Ste-
fano Musacchi, they are try-
ing to determine the causes of
inconsistent pear quality and
find novel solutions for dealing
with them.
They are also beginning to
apply their techniques in eval-
uating metabolism to a long-
term project of Mark Mazzola,
an ARS plant pathologist, who
is investigating better strate-
gies to maintain healthy soils
in orchards.
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George VanLeeuwen of Halsey dies at age 95
Dec. 5, 1920 — Oct. 21, 2016
George VanLeeuwen, 95,
of Halsey, Ore., died in Al-
bany at the Mennonite Vil-
lage Rehab unit of age-relat-
ed causes.
He was born at home near
Jamestown, N.D., and moved
with his family to Oregon in
1936. George lived most of
his life on the VanLeeuwen
farm west of Halsey, except
for 1945-1956, during which
he attended and graduated
from Oregon State Agricul-
tural College and married
Liz Nelson
of Lakeview,
Ore.
He leaves
behind his
wife of 69
years, Liz
George
Va n L e e u -
VanLeeuwen wen;
one
d a u g h -
ter, Mary LeQuieu of Rio
Rancho, N.M.; three sons,
Charles VanLeeuwen of
Mountainair, N.M., and
James VanLeeuwen and Tim
VanLeeuwen of Halsey, and
their spouses; five grandchil-
dren and four great-grand-
children.
He is also survived by his
brother, Eugene VanLeeuw-
en, of Scio, Ore.
He briefly taught voca-
tional agriculture, before be-
coming a farm loan officer,
and then in 1956 returned
to Halsey to rent the family
farm.
George touched many
lives with his kind, intel-
ligent, good-hearted spir-
it. Many will remember
him for his warm, friendly
smile.
He leaves behind an im-
pression of gentleness, car-
ing and faith.
George was a “second fa-
ther” to many who looked up
to his example and wisdom.
“He truly was one of the
last good men left in the
world,” says Dutch cousin
Paul Rutgers.
A viewing was Oct. 28,
and a memorial service was
Oct. 29, at Brownsville
Baptist Church. Private in-
terment was at Pine Grove
Cemetery.
Contributions may be
made to Adult and Teen
Challenge of Shedd (http://
w w w. t e e n c h a l l e n g e p n w.
com/wvmc). P.O. Box 108
Shedd, OR 97377; or Ag in
the Classroom (http://orego-
naitc.org/), 200 Strand Ag
Hall, Oregon State Universi-
ty, Corvallis, OR 97331.
Online condolences for
the family may be posted
at www.fisherfuneralhome.
com.
Vegetable growers welcome OSU move to hire specialist
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Ending a long hiring
drought, Oregon State Uni-
versity is advertising for a
vegetable and vegetable seed
specialist to work at its North
Willamette Research and Ex-
tension Center in Aurora,
Ore.
The position is part of a
continued expansion of OSU
Extension staff statewide and at
the North Willamette center in
particular, much of it made pos-
sible by increased funding ap-
Calendar
proved by the
Legislature in
2015.
In
the
past
year,
N W R E C
alone
has
hired
Nik
Mike Bondi
Wiman, an
orchard crops
specialist; Lloyd Nackley, a
nursery production and man-
agement faculty member; and
is negotiating to hire a pesti-
cide registration specialist. The
vegetable extension agent posi-
tion has been vacant since Bob
Sponsored by:
To submit an event go to the
Community Events calendar on the
home page of our website at www.
capitalpress.com and click on “Sub-
mit an Event.” Calendar items can
also be mailed to Capital Press, 1400
Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR 97301.
sity (evening), 1810 N. Greene
St., Spokane. Daytime courses
for farmers, gardeners and “food-
ies.” Evening program at Gonza-
ga led by keynote speaker Joel
Salatin, the Virginia farmer who
emphasizes sustanability. http://
bit.ly/2eVxY63
Friday-Saturday
Nov. 4-5
Monday, Nov. 7
2016 Oregon Association of
Nurseries Convention. Sunriver Re-
sort. www.oan.org/convention
Saturday, Nov. 5
Farm and Food Expo, 8 a.m.-
8:30 p.m. Spokane Community
College (day), Gonzaga Univer-
8th Annual Meridian FFA Alumni
Dinner and Auction. 5:30-9 p.m.
Meridian Professional Technical
Center, 1900 W Pine, Meridian,
Idaho. The silent auction and
raffle begin at 5:30, followed by
dinner at 6, a welcome and vet-
erans recognition at 7 and a live
auction at 7:15. shari.gonzales@
McReynolds, who was highly
regarded by growers, retired in
2012.
Canby, Ore., grower Ed
Montecucco said hiring a
vegetable specialist will be
most welcome by vegetable
and vegetable seed farmers.
Growers several years ago
formed an endowment fund
to help pay for the position,
and the fund has reached
$330,000.
Montecucco said McReyn-
olds helped assemble data to
win approval for chemicals
that improve yield and control
pests, and advised growers on
farming practices.
The new person will need to
be knowledgeable about raising
organic and conventional veg-
etables and controlling pests
in both, Montecucco said. He
grows conventional and organ-
ic fresh market root crops, rhu-
barb and corn and beans.
NWREC administrator Mi-
chael Bondi said growers need
help with pest control, irriga-
tion efficiency, soil health and
food safety regulations, among
other things.
“There are a lot of unmet
needs, that’s for sure,” he
said.
Oregon’s fresh and pro-
cessed vegetable industry has
an annual farm gate value of
$100 million, and the Willa-
mette Valley is one of the na-
tion’s primary vegetable, flow-
er and herb seed production
areas, Bondi noted in a news
release.
Applicants must have a
Ph.D. in horticulture or a relat-
ed field. The closing date for
applications is Nov. 20. A job
description is at https://jobs.or-
egonstate.edu/postings/34112
GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE
www.oxarc.com
hp.com or eeeskis@gmail.com
Oregon Ryegrass Growers Seed
Commission meeting, 6-9 p.m. Cas-
cade Grill restaurant, 110 Opal St.
NE, Albany, Ore. www.ryegrass.com
Monday-Tuesday
Nov. 7-8
Annual Washington Dairy In-
dustry Meeting. Includes the Dairy
Safety Conference. Kittitas Event
Center, Ellensburg, Wash. http://
wastatedairy.com
Wednesday, Nov. 9
Pesticide Analytical and Re-
sponse Center Board meeting. 9
a.m.-noon. Oregon Department of
20 Northwest Locations
Fish and Wildlife, 4034 Fairview In-
dustrial Drive SE, Salem. http://bit.
ly/2dYbkcz
Wednesday-Saturday
Nov. 9-12
Tri-State Grain Growers Con-
vention, Coeur d’Alene Resort, 100
Sunrise Blvd., Coeur d’Alene, Ida-
ho. www.wawg.org/convention/
Friday-Sunday
Nov. 11-13
Tilth Conference, Wenatchee,
Wash., Convention Center, 121 N.
Wenatchee Ave. The Tilth Confer-
ence brings together hundreds of
farmers, producers, researchers and
1-800-765-9055
food system professionals to net-
work and learn. This is a great way to
meet others in your field, enjoy locally
sourced meals and participate in fun
evening events around Wenatchee.
http://www.seattletilth.org/
Friday, Nov. 11
Wolves, Livestock and Peo-
ple meeting. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Fort
Jones Library, 11960 East St.,
Fort Jones, Calif. The essential
relationship between stockman-
ship and stewardship will steer
discussions about people, wolves
and livestock in Northern Cal-
ifornia and Southern Oregon.
Sponsored by the California Wolf
Center.
Easy Pay U.S. $3.75/month (direct with-
drawal from bank or credit card account)
1 year U.S. ...................................$49.99
2 years U.S. .................................$89.99
1 year Canada .................................$275
1 year other countries ......... call for quote
1 year Internet only .......................$49.99
1 year 4-H, FFA students and teachers ....$30
9 months 4-H, FFA students & teachers .....$25
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Index
California ................................ 8
Idaho .................................... 10
Markets ............................... 13
Opinion .................................. 6
Oregon .................................11
Washington ........................... 9
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