April 13, 2018
CapitalPress.com
11
Orchard renewal plantings boost Cherry Hill Farms
By BRAD CARLSON
For the Capital Press
Apple grower Daniel Row-
ley liked what he saw as 2018
got underway: an apparently
ample “bud load” on trees,
indicating plenty of potential
fruiting sites.
“So far, it’s looking good,”
he said.
Rowley, 33, will have a
big year regardless of harvest
outcome. He’s the current
chairman of the Idaho Apple
Commission. He and his team
at Cherry Hill Farms expect
to see some results of targeted
“orchard renewal” planting
commenced shortly after the
Rowley family, long-expe-
rienced apple growers near
Santaquin, Utah, acquired the
operation west of Caldwell in
2012.
The 2012-14 plantings are
“starting to hit their produc-
tion,” he said. “Hopefully in
the next couple of years, our
production will go way up
compared to what it has been
the last couple of years as
these new orchards come into
production and into maturity.”
Cherry Hill comprises four
sites and 300-plus acres west
of Caldwell.
Rowley arrived in south-
west Idaho in 2010 after
earning a master’s degree in
plant science from Utah State
University to go with his USU
bachelor’s in ag business. He
went to work at Caldwell
Idaho Orchards, learning the
area’s growing conditions
and, with family, continuing
to look for potential acquisi-
tion sites.
“We had our eyes on areas
up here for quite a number of
years,” Rowley said.
Increased urban pres-
sure in Utah made it tough
to expand there, he said. In
southwest Idaho, the Row-
leys found more space, higher
winter temperatures, fewer
flower-killing spring frosts
and a similar summer climate.
Compared to its sister en-
terprise in Utah, Cherry Hill
tends to enjoy a greater num-
ber of optimum growing days
and produce slightly larger
fruit.
Rowley, his younger
brother Jeff and their cousin
Sean Rowley manage Cher-
ry Hill, which grows apples,
peaches and some apricots
and nectarines for Mountain-
land Apples. Mountainland is
a grower-owned cooperative
that stores, packs and markets
to wholesale clients such as
grocery stores.
Cherry Hill grows Fuji,
Gala, Granny Smith, Hon-
eycrisp and Red Delicious
apples. Daniel Rowley said
the hardest to grow is Hon-
eycrisp, which the U.S. Ap-
ple Association in 2016 said
was the fifth strongest-selling
variety and fastest gainer of
sales volume.
“When we get paid, that is
a good day,” he said, referring
to Honeycrisp. “But the oth-
er 364 days of the year, they
are just a pain.” For example,
their inefficiency at taking
calcium from the soil leaves
them susceptible to the Bit-
ter Pit nutrient deficiency, he
said.
Cherry Hill aims to pro-
duce higher-quality apples
that grade highly at the pack-
ing shed and can generate
premium returns. “We are
trying to have a good-tasting
piece of fruit, but in addition
to that, we are looking for
color — a clean piece of fruit
with no markings,” Rowley
said.
“We are learning, and al-
ways modifying things to
make them better,” he said.
The crew lately uses plat-
forms instead of ladders for
more tasks, striving for in-
creased safety, efficiency and
cost savings.
Brad Carlson/For the Capital Press
Daniel Rowley of Cherry Hill Farms looks for buds in a Fuji apple
block.
40 Acre Vineyard- Southern Oregon
Plantable, with water rights,
borders 4200’ of the main
Umpqua River.
• Pino
• Chardonnay
• Pine G
• Temp
• Merlot
5 additional 80 acre parcels w/water
$2,000,000
rights available.
541.670.7372 • confluenceestate@outlook.com
ONV18-3/110
ONV18-4/106
7th leaf on 160 acres
plus additional 115 acres