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2 CapitalPress.com March 23, 2018 People & Places A believer in KGB cherries John Morton says unique pedestrian orchard system has its advantages Western Innovator Capital Press Searching in Europe Looking for answers, the industry helped send Lynn Long, an Oregon State Uni- versity Extension agent in The Dalles, to Europe in 1994. “Europe was having the same problems of labor short- ages and Lynn came back and reported on dwarfing cher- ry rootstocks that we didn’t know existed,” Morton said. The next year, Morton headed a tour of 25 Cherry Growers members to Europe and saw smaller trees that were easier to pick and result- ed in higher picker produc- tion. They met Tobias Vogel, a German grower and extension agent, who developed the Vo- gel Spindle, a central leader dwarfing tree. In 1997, Morton met Green at an international cherry symposium in Norway and learned about the KGB. “John got it. He understood the principles I was teaching because I talked grower lan- guage and so did John,” said Green, 62, who spoke with Capital Press on Feb. 15 while visiting Morton in The Dalles. March 23-April 30 Wooden Shoe Tulip Fest. 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, 33814 S. Meridian Road, Woodburn, Ore. The colorful annual festival in- cludes a wide variety of activities. Cost: $5 per person for 13 and older. Maximum per car charge $20. Web- site: https://www.woodenshoe.com/ Friday-Monday March 23-26 Oregon FFA Convention. De- schutes Fair & Expo Center, Red- mond, Ore. Website: http://www. oregonffa.com/EarnToLive/State- Convention Saturday, March 31 Welding and Basic Metal Work for Small Farms. 1-5 p.m. Dunbar Farms, Hillcrest Road, Medford, Ore. This popular class is small and hands-on. With space limited, register early. David Mostue, farmer and equipment guru, will teach the basics of welding techniques on-site at his farm. Particular focus will be on those skills most useful to farm- ers, including the types of welders, tools and safety equipment needed. Participants will have a chance to try MIG welding, the most useful and common form of welding on farms. General metalwork like drilling, bending and welding prep will also be covered. Cost: $50 each person. Capital Press Managers Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor John Morton Age: 70 Origins: Born and raised in Sweet Home, Ore., and spent summers on his grandparents’ wheat ranch near Pendleton, Ore. Family: Wife, Doriene, a retired nurse, four grown children, seven grandchil- dren. Courtesy of Debbie Zimmerlee Kym Green, the Australian developer of the KGB cherry tree, left, and John Morton, with Morton’s KGB trees near The Dalles, Ore., on Feb. 15. Morton found Regina and Kordia cherries did well on the Vogel Spindle. Bing, Skeena and Lapin did not, but do well on the KGB. Morton and Long became Oregon promoters of the two dwarfing systems, enlisting several visits from Green and Vogel. Several smaller grow- ers in The Dalles turned to those systems and the manag- er of 3,000 acres of orchards for investment companies ad- opted a version of the KGB, Morton said. Using the dwarfing sys- tems in his orchards, Morton said by 2003 he was able to pick the same amount of fruit with 35 pickers that previous- ly had required 75. Morton believes more growers should consider the KGB and Vogel systems for labor savings and high fruit quality. A legitimate question, he said, is whether Bing is be- coming the Red Delicious of the cherry industry. There’s just too many on the market after the Fourth of July, he said. “I left 240 tons of Bing on the trees last season because I couldn’t afford to pick them,” he said. KGB viewpoint The KGB’s 25 leaders coming off the main trunk a couple feet above the ground in goblet fashion transfer the tree’s vigor from vegetation to fruit, Green said. Cherries grow in clusters on the vertical leaders instead of horizontal limbs. The lead- ers have more sap flow, nu- trients and water than lateral limbs and thus grow larger, firmer and better cherries, Green said. Summer topping at eight feet de-vigorates the tops and allows more light lower on the leaders, making stronger buds, he said. It’s about six feet across open space from leaders on one side of the goblet to the other. Double planting rows and 600 trees per acre keeps volume up, he said. “Some modern systems have 30,000 lineal yards of fruiting wood per hector whereas the KGB has 50,000 to 60,000, so double. It’s a lot more fruiting wood and less structural wood,” Green said. A hectare equals 2.47 acres. Growers in Chile also use it, he said. The UFO (Upright Fruit- ing Offshoot) developed by Matthew Whiting, a Wash- ington State University plant physiologist, is based on the KGB but is 10 leaders on a single stem in the same plane to form a fruiting wall for me- chanical harvesting, Green said. The UFO has too much vegetative vigor, about 10 percent per limb versus 4 per- cent for the KGB and 20 per- cent for a normal tree, he said. “UFOs are monsters. To get volume you have to go higher and then you’re fight- ing the tree the whole time. It’s not a pedestrian orchard,” Green said. “Mechanical har- vesting is way overrated. It’s like pissing in the wind. It won’t happen in our lifetime.” A UFO defense Whiting disagrees. He said the UFO was not developed from the KGB, is not too vig- orous, does not yield “mon- ster” trees and that mechan- ical harvesting is a proven possibility. “Industry adoption is in- evitable,” Whiting said of mechanical harvesting, add- ing the UFO is designed for production efficiency, not just mechanized harvest. “We have data to show bet- ter hand harvest efficiency in UFO compared to KGB,” he said. “I am against any pedes- trian system for sweet cherries because it will unnecessarily limit yield and profit.” He said his observations do not support Green’s per limb vigor percentages. “The biggest challenge is achieving relatively uniform vigor among uprights and knowing the right balance of uprights per tree to be nei- ther excessively vigorous nor weak in annual growth,” Whiting said. “The KGB is certainly not better in general. I do not think growers should be turn- ing to any system that does not form a compact fruiting wall,” he said. Roughly 50 percent of Washington’s cherries come from low-density orchards of large old trees. New plantings are not mainly UFO, but many are V-trellised, Whiting said. There is a great diversity in systems with a clear trend to- ward higher-density, size-con- trolling rootstocks and planar systems, he said. Mark Hanrahan, husband of Ines Hanrahan, postharvest physiologist for the Washing- ton Tree Fruit Research Com- mission, is a proponent of the UFO system, which he began using 15 years ago in his or- chard near Zillah, Wash. He uses it on 40 acres of Raini- er, Santina, Tieton, Cowiche, Early Robin and Chelan cher- ries. The UFO fruits on vertical leaders but people let it fruit on laterals as well, he said. “I’ve seen a lot of train wrecks because of apical (central leader) dominance is so strong. You want the strong leader at the end,” he said. The SSA (Super Spindle Education: Bachelor’s de- gree in agricultural engineer- ing, Oregon State University, 1971. Work History: Western Farm Service (fertilizer), Athena, Ore., 1971 to 1982; managed center-pivot farms for insurance companies in Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington, 1982 to 1988; spray manager Mt. Adams Orchards, White Salmon, Wash., 1988 to 1992; The Dalles fieldman for Oregon Cherry Growers, 1992 to 2009; cherry grower since 2000. Axis) tree style also is good, and any planar system is bet- ter than the KGB because they can be mechanically harvest- ed while the KGB can’t, he said. He also believes cherries will be mechanically harvest- ed. Other innovations While there’s still debate over the KGB, UFO and oth- er systems, Morton’s interest in innovation hasn’t stopped there. He’s experimented with rain netting used in Europe but determined it’s too ex- pensive. It works in Europe because governments pay half the costs, he said. Morton has been testing new varieties owned by pri- vate nurseries but bred in uni- versity programs in East Ger- many, Czechoslovakia and Hungary before the collapse of communism in Eastern Eu- rope. “A lot of good cherry breeding was done there be- fore the fall of the Berlin Wall but it was never promoted,” he said. “So we’ve been sort- ing through and testing variet- ies from there for a number of years.” It’s a slow process, he said. Material comes in under quar- antine to the WSU Clean Plant Center Northwest in Prosser. Calendar To submit an event go to the Community Events calendar on the home page of our website at www. capitalpress.com and click on “Submit an Event.” Calendar items can also be mailed to Capital Press, 1400 Broad- way St. NE, Salem, OR 97301 or emailed to newsroom@capitalpress. com. Write “Calendar” in the subject line. Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Susan Rana Mike Omeg Corporate Officer Heidi Wright Chief Operating Officer By DAN WHEAT THE DALLES, Ore. — A grower, former fieldman and promoter of dwarfing cher- ry trees for more than two decades says more grow- ers should adopt an Austra- lian tree system to cut labor costs in half and grow large, top-quality cherries. John Morton, 70, is bull- ish on the KGB. No, he’s not talking about Russians, but a goblet-style cherry tree devel- oped in 1993 by Australian grower Kym Green. It is a takeoff of the Spanish Bush cherry tree — hence the Kym Green Bush, or KGB. It’s pedestrian, meaning it is har- vested from the ground with- out ladders. “The brine industry was the bulk of the cherry industry in Oregon in the early 1990s and prices were collapsing. We had a lot of old Bing and Royal Anns,” says Morton, an Oregon Cherry Growers field- man from 1992 to 2009 and a grower since 2000. Part of the problem was a labor shortage. The Dalles has a harder time attracting and keeping pickers since there were few pears and apples to extend picking after cherries, he said. Capital Press Contact: paula.burkhalter@oregon- state.edu or 541-776-7371. Website: http://bit.ly/JacksonSmallFarms Wednesday-Saturday April 4-7 Idaho FFA State leadership Conference. College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, Idaho. Website: https://www.idahoffa.org/confer- ences-conventions/ Thursday, April 5 Part 4: Farm & Ranch Succes- sion Planning Workshop. 6-8:30 p.m. Clackamas Small Business Devel- opment Center, 7726 SE Harmony Road, Milwaukie, Ore. This program is offered and taught by the Clackamas Small Business Development Center, along with guest presenters such as attorneys and CPAs. A complimentary light dinner will start each evening at 6 p.m. To register, call 503-594-0738. Cost: Free. Website: http://bit.ly/ 2CX1jvl Saturday, April 7 28th Dayton FFA Alumni Auction and Dinner. 5:30-9 p.m. Old Dayton High School Gym, 801 Ferry St., Dayton, Ore. The auction is the larg- est fundraiser the Dayton FFA Alumni does each year. If you or your busi- ness would like to donate an item, time, money or services to this year’s auction, or if you are interested in joining Dayton FFA Alumni, please contact Mitch Coleman at (503) 864- 2080. The silent auction starts at 5:30 p.m. The first table closes at 6:30 and dinner featuring local foods will be served at 7. Cost: $10 at the door or from the Dayton Ag Shop at 503-864- 2080. Basic Irrigation System Design and Operation. 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Dunbar Farms, Medford, Ore. This class will look at a variety of irrigation systems suitable for different crops. The class will be particularly useful for those planning to build or alter their irrigation systems. The day of in- struction includes a trip around Dun- bar Farms to look at a wide variety of pump stations and irrigation methods in operation. These systems will in- clude overhead sprinklers for hay, drip irrigation in wine grapes, high uniformity rotator sprinklers for row crops, large volume canons for infre- quent irrigation purposes and flood irrigation in hay. Directions to the farm will be sent to registrants. Registration options other than on line, contact Paula, 541-776-7371. Register on- line: http://bit.ly/JacksonSmallFarms Cost: $35 per person. Website: http:// bit.ly/JacksonSmallFarms to paula.burkhalter@oregonstate.edu or call 541-776-7371. Cost: $20 each person Website: http://bit.ly/JacksonS- mallFarms Tuesday, April 10 Shepherds’ Extravaganza. 2-10 p.m. Washington State Fair, 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyallup, Wash. Sheep and Fleece Show, vendors of supplies, used fiber-related equipment, demonstrations, work- shops. Cost: No cost after admis- sion to the Spring Fair. Website: www.shepherds-extravaganza.com Southern Idaho Livestock Hall of Fame induction. 6:30-9 p.m. Turf Club, 734 Falls Ave., Twin Falls, Idaho. This year’s inductees are: cattle rancher Jim Baker of Filer; sheep and cattle ranchers Ed and Emily Baker (posthu- mously) of Filer; cattle ranchers Scott and Sarah Bedke of Oakley; dairy producers Harry and Flora Bokma of Buhl; long-time Bureau of Land Man- agement supervisor Dean Brown of Jerome; and cattle ranchers Wade and Gwenna Prescott of Carey. Cost: $25 Saturday, April 14 Understanding and Maintaining Farm Equipment. 1-5 p.m. Dunbar Farms, Medford, Ore. This class of- fers an introduction to farm equipment maintenance and repair including: how small gas engines and larger gas and diesel engines run, basic maintenance and tuning; trouble-shooting problems and how to tell whether you can fix a problem. Register online at http://bit.ly/ JacksonSmallFarms or send an email Thursday, April 19 In the Field: Salem Agriculture Seminar. 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Wil- lamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill St. SE, Salem, Ore. A seminar for a discussion specifically designed to provide agribusiness owners and their managers with tools they need to get organized. Topics include the new tax cuts, finances and financial statements, regulatory updates on water and wetlands, organizing an agri-business and estate planning. Sponsor: Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt. RSVP at http://bit.ly/2FwaRPV. Cost: Free Thursday-Sunday April 19-22 Puyallup Spring Fair. Washing- ton State Fairgrounds, 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyallup, Wash. Website: http://www.thefair.com/spring-fair Saturday, April 21 Oregon Women for Ag Auction and Dinner. 5:30 p.m. Linn County Fair and Expo Center, 3700 Knox Butte Road, Albany, Ore. This excit- ing event is a fundraiser for Oregon Women for Agriculture, which advo- cates for all things involving agricul- ture in the state. Web: owaonline.org Tree School East. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Baker High School, 2500 E St., Bak- er City, Ore. The school will offer 29 classes on multi-aged forest manage- ment, insects, disease, weeds, suc- cession planning, geology of North- east Oregon, wildflower identification and small scale harvesting for the “do it yourself” folks. Sponsored by OSU Extension, the Oregon Forest Resources Institute and the Oregon Small Woodlands Association. Cost: $50, $20 for 18 and younger. Web- site: http://extension.oregonstate. edu/baker/ Sunday-Wednesday April 22-25 California FFA State Convention. Anaheim Convention Center, Ana- heim, Calif. Website: http://www.cal- aged.org/stateconvention Saturday-Sunday April 28-29 Oregon Ag Fest. 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Oregon State Fairgrounds, 2330 17th St. NE, Salem, Ore. A two-day event, aimed to help families better under- stand where their food, fiber and flora come from, is a unique learning experience, where hands-on exhib- its make learning about Oregon’s vast agricultural industry educational and entertaining. Kids 12 and under free. Viirtually all activities are free of charge. Cost: $9 for ages 13 and over. Website: http://oragfest.com/ Thursday-Saturday May 10-12 88th Washington FFA Convention & Expo. Washington State Universi- ty, Pullman, Wash. Website: https:// www.washingtonffa.org/conven- tion-overview/ Jessica Boone ........ Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager Entire contents copyright © 2018 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97301. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. 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