From the publishers oF: lake Chelan mirror • the leavenworth eCho • Cashmere valley reCord • Quad City heraldJanuary 16/17, 2013

Submitted by Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers

The Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers’ four-day annual Febru-ary Convention is an opportunity for the industry to network, check out the latest products and services, and learn how to craft quality across every spectrum of the industry.

The 2013 Convention will be held in Kennewick, WA at the Three Rivers Con-vention Center, February 5-8. In addition to a two-day trade show featuring up to 180 booths, each day, the convention pro-gram examines a multitude of topics that ultimately address how to produce quality. A sampling follows.

During a Professional Development session for the Next Generation, Patrick Dobel, John & Marguerite Corbally Uni-versity Professor of Public Service at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, will present on integrity, management, and ethics for building quality industry leadership for the future. Dobel is a teacher of these subjects. As the UW’s former Faculty Athletic Representative at the PAC 10 and NCAA, he oversaw the academic integrity of the athletic program and governance for eight years.

Managing Risks Inside the Winery—Water, Waste, and Safety offers risk

management and environmentally con-scious winery operations tools to enhance sustainable winery practices, measure, document and demonstrate continuous im-provements. One year after the introduc-tion of Winerywise, Washington’s online Guide to Sustainable Winery Practices, this session specifi-cally responds to industry interest in a refresher course on best practices for winery water and wastewater use and employee safety.

A three-part in-dustry short course explores a Year in the Life of a Grape Vine. Attendees will learn how to devise a basic management calendar for both the vineyard and winery and what tools exist to help. Following, a more in-depth look will be taken at: 1) water management in the vineyard, and 2) wine quality manage-ment prior to the crush pad. This session is intended to provide a greater under-standing of the growing season, nature and necessity of water in the vineyard, and certain viticulture techniques that can permanently enhance or detract from wine quality.

Immigration Reform and How it’s Driv-

ing Mechanization will begin with an understanding of the impact of the Dream Act, but its main focus will be to explore technology and where it does and doesn’t work. Attendees will hear from a panel of

growers and wine-makers. Costs and cost savings will be reviewed, and in-formation will be shared about what others are doing in-ternationally.

In acknowledg-ment of advances in technology and rapid changes in the science of wine grape growing and

the art of wine making, the Poster Ses-sion returns. During this session, includ-ing a progressive lunch, attendees can learn from research posters and discuss a variety of industry-relevant topics with researchers and students.

The entire event is open to those inter-ested in the growing of wine grapes or making of wine. For additional informa-tion or to register, visit the WAWGG web-site: http://www.wawgg.org”www.wawgg.org. Registration opens in December for the February 2013 WAWGG Annual Meet-ing Convention and Trade Show.

Submitted by ChelanFruit Cooperative

Washington State fruit produc-ers Gebbers Farms and Chelan Fruit Cooperative have jointly entered a venture to purchase a fifty percent stake in four closely associated fruit producers in An-gol, Chile: Inversiones Agrícolas Buenos Aires S.A., El Almendro S.A., Fundo El Encanto S.A., and Frutícola Angol S.A. The four Chilean companies are currently owned by Toronto Trust, Andrés Lyon L., Francisco Prat A. and the Prat Alemparte Family. The four Chilean entities will be rolled into one new company to be named Chilean South Apples, or “CHISA.”

Today the CHISA companies combined comprise 1,700 acres of apple and cherry orchards, many of which are still young, as well as packing, nursery and sales operations. CHISA will directly export about 1.2 million cartons of tree fruit to markets in Asia, the United States, Canada, the Middle East, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Latin America.

The U.S. and Chilean compa-nies participating in CHISA have maintained a trade relationship for many years before entering

the new venture. Reggie Collins, CEO of Chelan Fruit Cooperative says of the relationship, “over the years we have developed close bonds with our partners in Chile, as like us, they empha-size growing the highest quality apples and the best varieties, and are known as being fine growers with an innovative nursery.” “The partnership began several years ago when we sold some of their fruit, and has deepened as we have continued to work closely together sharing knowl-edge; some of our staff have spent several months in Angol, Chile,” adds Collins.

Collins says the goal of the venture is to offer a year-round

supply of high quality apple varieties to worldwide custom-ers and to continue expanding CHISA’s operations. Chile’s southern hemisphere location harvests fruit six months offset from Washington State, allowing the CHISA partners to supply cherries to the northern hemi-sphere in December, and to sup-ply some varieties of apples dur-ing months when they are least available from U.S. orchards.

The CHISA partners have developed a $USD 30 million business plan that defines a series of development projects in Chile, including extensive plantings of new apple variet-ies, new plantings of cherries,

expanding packing and cold stor-age operations in Chile, orchard renovation, and the commercial development of new protected apple varieties through CHISA’s nursery operation.

Francisco Prat, longtime man-ager of the Chilean operations, will become general manager of CHISA, and Dan Tarbert of Gebbers Farms will be chief financial officer. A four-member board of directors, composed of Reggie Collins, Cass Gebbers, Daniel Orezzolli Bozzalla, and Andrés Lyon, will oversee CHISA operations.

Chelan Fruit Cooperative is a major packer of apples, pears and cherries located in Chelan, WA, USA and is owned by 270 grower-members.

Gebbers Farms is a large fam-ily-owned producer of apples, pears and cherries centered in Brewster, WA, USA.

Chelan Fruit Cooperative and Gebbers Farms jointly market their fruit through Chelan Fresh Marketing of Chelan, WA using the Trout, Chelan Fresh and Danny Boy labels, among oth-ers. Chelan Fresh Marketing supplies about 15 million cartons of apples, pears and cherries to markets worldwide.

“The partnership began several years ago when we sold some of their fruit, and has deepened as we have contin-ued to work closely together sharing knowledge; some of our staff have spent several months in Angol, Chile.”

-Reggie Collins, CEO of Chelan Fruit Cooperative

Trade Show

Over 26 vendors a r e s i g n e d u p t o part ic ipate in th is years t rade show sponsored by the Chelan FFA Alumni.

67th Annual

Lake Chelan Horticultural Day MeetingMonday, January 21, 2013

9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.Chelan High School

• Elections • Trade Show• Lunch Available

The 67th Annual Lake Chelan Horticulture Day, co-sponsored by Washington State University Extension, Chelan High School Future Farmers of America and the Lake Chelan Fieldmen’s Association.

The day’s speakers promise to be both educational and in-teresting.

Lunch is offered by Chelan FFA.Speakers include: Tom Auvil, Tory Schmidt, Dr. Ute Chambers,

Dr. Elizabeth Beers, Dr. Jay Brunner, Dr. Andrea Bixby-Brosi, Dr. Ines Hanrahan, Todd Fryhover and Tim Smith.

The day’s accompanying trade show is sponsored by the Chelan FFA Alumni. All trade show proceeds will provide scholarships and support the members and activities of the Chelan FFA.

Morning Session9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Trends in New Apple Cultivars

and Rootstocks. Tom Auvil, Tree Fruit Research Commission

9:30 - 10:00 a.m. Further Investigations on Fac-tors Relating to Spray Residues on Apples and Cherries. Tory Schmidt, Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission

10:00 - 10:10 a.m. Elections and Nominations - choosing your representatives.

10:10 - 10:35 a.m. WSU Digital Advisory System Update. Dr. Ute Chambers, WSU - TFREC, Wenatchee

10:35 - 11:15 a.m. Current Insect Pest Manage-ment Issues in Tree Fruits - New and Old. Dr. Elizabeth Beers, WSU - TFREC, Wenatchee

11:15 - 11:30 a.m. An Update on the WSU Spe-cial Assessment for Tree Fruits. Dr. Jay Brunner, WSU - TFREC, Wenatchee

11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Enhancing Biological Control in Western Orchards: A summary of new information and future directions. Dr. Andrea Bixby-Brosi, WSU - TFREC

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch - (Support Chelan High School FFA by purchasing your lunch on site, and visit with the trade show sponsors)

Afternoon Session1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Improving Packouts: Research on

Cherry Cracking, Honeycrisp Harvest Maturity and Delayed Sunburn. Dr. Ines Hanrahan, Tree Fruit Research Commission

1:30 - 2:00 p.m. Working for Market Access - We Need Everyone.

Todd Fryhover, Washington Apple Commission2:00 - 2:30 p.m. Clicker survey. Help us learn how

to help you more effectively.

2:30 - 3:10 p.m. Progress: Orchard Replant Dis-ease and Fire Blight Management. Tim Smith, WSU Extension - Chelan, Douglas & Okanogan Counties

NOTE: The WSDA has requested a special effort to prevent

credit being awarded to meeting “attendees” who arrive late in the day to sign the credit sheets. Please do not do this, as you are making credit sign-up difficult for people who have earned their credits.

3 pesticide education certification credits awarded for program attendance

Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination. Evidence of non-compliance may be reported through your local Extension office.

Gebbers Farms and Chelan Fruit buy 50% of Chilean companies

Wine grape convention plans superior quality by design

The Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers advocates

for the Washington wine growing industry by educating,

promoting, representing, and unify-ing the industry and encouraging

a positive business environment for continued growth and

production of world-class, Washington-grown wines.

Mirror File Photo

Cherry crop sees struggle in some areasBy Jennifer MarshallStaff Writer

Washington hit the jackpot in 2012 with a record-breaking apple crop that surpassed the previous record by 19.7 million boxes, according to the manager of the Washington Growers Clearing House Association.

As of Jan. 4, the “indicted Washington fresh apple crop is 129.1 million… boxes com-pared to the previous record of 109.4 million actual boxes shipped in 2010-2011,” said Kirk Mayer, whose office is based in Wenatchee.

Favorable weather in spring and fall were enough to over-come challenges such as a labor shortage and damage-causing hail in July.

“Many growers reported hiring more inexperienced employees than ever before. As a result some fruit was not harvested in a timely manner,” Mayer said.

Farmers did what they could to draw in and keep employees, according to a Sept. 30 quarterly market snapshot from North-west Farm Credit Services.

“Some growers will manage to maintain their work force for multiple passes, but the fear is that laborers will leave to work another orchard’s first pick rather than stay and pick the second or third passes,” the report stated. “Once the labor force is gone it’s hard to attract new pickers to the farm.”

An unexpected benefit came from dismal harvests in Michi-

gan, New York and in other apple-producing countries, which placed more demand on Washington growers to “harvest most every apple possible,” Mayer said.

“Michigan usually has about 25 million boxes but harvested approximately 2 million boxes,” he said.

Washington apples are also fetching higher prices: In early January, Meyer said Red Deli-cious is priced at $22.41, com-pared to $19.21 at the same time the year before. Golden Deli-cious’ rate is $23.54 versus $21.29; Gala is $26.46 over $22.80; Fuji is $24.69 over $22.80; and Granny Smith is $24.82 over $21.71.

“The increased prices should help offset this season’s increase in input costs such as harvest-

related costs, pest management, food safety, and hopefully create a nest egg to assist in addressing the challenges related to the po-tential large national and state apple crops next season, and health care reform implementa-tion, etc.,” Mayer said.

One local producer that didn’t see much in the way of struggles last year was Gebbers Farms, the family-owned company that farms not only apples, but cher-ries and pears.

“Overall, the 2012 cherry and apple harvest for Gebbers Farms went very smoothly and effi-ciently,” Bob Grandy, director of food safety wrote in an e-mail. “We had an adequate labor force available to harvest our crops at the right time and more impor-tantly on time. Cherry and apple production hit our estimates for the season, and the quality of the apple crop was excellent for storage.”

In other parts of the state, Mayer reported poor returns for some cherry growers impacted by early summer rain and above average temperatures.

Ideal conditions for cherry picking are 45- to 50-degree mornings and 85-degree days, said Kevin Benson, manager of

field services at Gebbers Farms, during an earlier interview with the Quad City Herald.

The Northwest Farm Credit Services market snapshot noted that the overall 2012 cherry crop for the Northwest surpassed its previous record by 13.4 percent, ending with 23.2 million 20-pound boxes.

The average price for cherries dropped from $43.50 per box last year to $35.57 in 2012.

Gebbers Farms, which em-ploys more than 2,000 people during peak times, is working on bolstering its cherry business by building a new processing line for its Brewster plant, just in time for the next harvest, Grandy stated.

“State of the art technology will be used in this new cherry line, increasing both production and quality of our packs,” he wrote. Gebbers Farms is also continuing with its process of upgrading its orchards, which includes planting new trees, replacing old ones and graft-ing, thereby making some extra room to grow and nurture new varieties.

But as for this year’s expecta-tions, Grandy said it’s too early to make an estimate.

Washington’s big apple boom

File photoKids distribute freshly picked cherries from Gebbers Farms during the July 4, 2012 parade in Brewster.

Reichert, McDermott and Hastings work to support Washington growers in D.C

Submitted by Jeff Harvey

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressmen Dave Reichert (R-WA), Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Doc Hastings (R-WA) and ap-plaud the United States Trade Representative for requesting consultations at the World Trade Organization with Indone-sia over regulations impacting the export of fresh fruit and vegetables from the U.S. to Indonesia. This request repre-sents the first stage in the formal World Trade Organization dispute resolution process.

“I appreciate the continued engagement of the U.S. Trade Representative in requesting consultations on an issue vital to American growers,” said Reichert. “Jobs here at home depend on the ability to sell to critical markets like Indo-nesia. Regulations that serve only to restrict such access must be addressed.”

“The Indonesian measures that are the subject of the USTR consultation request are unfair, lack a basis in science, and are seriously hurting growers in Washington and other states,” said McDermott. “I am pleased that USTR will for-mally be calling Indonesia to account for them. I hope these consultations are successful at resolving the problems. But if they are not, USTR should be resolute in continuing onto the next steps in the dispute settlement process.”

"I commend USTR for pursuing dispute settlement within the WTO over Indonesia's new regulations that have placed Central Washington growers on an uneven playing field with their Indonesian competitors," said Hastings. "Washington state is the most trade-dependent state in the nation, and it is essential to our economy that we hold our trading partners accountable for fair trade policies."

Indonesia has consistently been one of the top five import-ers of Washington state apples. In 2010, the country was a $57 million market for Pacific Northwest apples, pears and cherries.

The regulations at issue were implemented by the Indone-sian government last year and impose burdensome licensing requirements for all imported fresh fruit and vegetables, serving as an effective barrier to U.S. exports.

In August, Reichert, McDermott, and Hastings led a bipar-tisan group of 15 Members of the House of Representatives in writing a letter to the Indonesian Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Trade requesting that they reconsider these regulations that would make it more difficult to export U.S. fresh fruits and vegetables to this important market. Previ-ously, Hastings and Reichert led a group of 21 lawmakers in June encouraging USTR to use all available resources to encourage Indonesia to rescind these regulations and a proposed closure of the Port of Jakarta to horticultural products. Reps. McDermott and Burton, co-chairs of the Congressional Indonesia Caucus, also submitted a letter to Indonesian authorities in June urging quick resolution of the issues.

C2 Lake CheLan Mirror/The LeavenworTh eCho/CashMere vaLLey reCord/Quad CiTy heraLd • January 16/17, 2013

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By Betsy BeersWSU Extension specialist

Apple orchards are intri-cate webs involving a delicate balance between trees, soils, water, insects and more. To manage the pests that can potentially damage a crop of apples, a grower might apply a pesticide.

There are several problems associated with pesticide use, though, including risks to en-vironmental and human health; the costs of the chemicals; and the equipment, labor and expense needed to apply them. That’s why Washington State University researchers have been pioneering alternatives to pesticide use for managing pests.

One of the effects of using a particular pesticide is that, in addition to controlling a target insect, it may also kill popula-tions of insects beneficial to or-chard health. WSU researchers have countered that problem by developing and advocating for a broad group of strategies called Integrated Pest Management.

IPM tries to minimize the use of harsh chemicals in favor of ones that are highly selective for target pests. WSU scien-tists have also helped develop methods of biocontrol, in which

a good insect is encouraged by various means to prey upon the bad insects that cause damage to trees and fruit.

The sensitive balance of or-chard ecology is such that, if one thing is changed (for in-stance, a pest-control regime), other things may change as well (like the proportion of bad pests to their good natural enemies). For the last decade, one of those changes in Washington apple orchards has been an expand-ing woolly aphid population.

“Growers began noticing an increase in the number of wool-

ly aphids in apple orchards starting in the early 2000s,” said WSU entomologist Betsy Beers. Beers is based at WSU’s Tree Fruit Research and Ex-tension Center in Wenatchee. “There is some evidence that suggests it was a change in pesticide programs that led to an increase in woolly aphids. The question became, what could we do about it?”

Beers said that woolly aphid debilitates trees over the long term by sucking the sugar out of plants.

“They are pernicious little

beasts. They use the plant’s sap (phloem) as food. They not only suck sap from leaves, but also from the plant’s woody parts. They also infect the roots, reducing the plant’s ability to take in nutrients and water. They cause hypertrophic galls, which are tumor-like protuber-ances that can kill fruit buds,” she said.

Dead fruit buds mean low-ered productivity, a serious concern for apple growers.

“This is one of the meaner aphids,” she said.

Beers said that a survey of woolly aphid’s natural enemies indicated that syrphids are the most commonly seen predator

in woolly apple aphid colonies. “We predicted syrphids could control the aphids — the trick is getting more syrphids into the orchard, and making sure they are happy there,” she said.

Syrphids are more commonly known as flower flies or hover-flies. As their name suggests, they like to hang out among flowers, as the adult syrphid’s primary food is nectar. The syr-phid larvae, however, grow and thrive on a diet of aphids — and woolly aphids are just dandy for maturing syrphid larvae.

“It’s wonderful to watch them chew their way through an aphid colony,” Beers said.

Enter doctoral student Les-sando Gontijo, who came to WSU from his native Brazil to study biocontrol. Funded in part by a grant from WSU’s BioAg program, and working with his mentors, Beers and WSU biocontrol expert Bill Snyder, Gontijo set up a series of experiments to test the idea that syrphids could be used to control woolly aphid popula-tions.

The team first examined six different flowering plants for attractiveness to syrphids, and sweet alyssum won hands down. This plant is low-growing and flowers from a few weeks after planting until frost, mak-ing it an ideal planting for use

in orchards. The next step was to plant small plots in orchards, in the lanes between rows of ap-ple trees (normally occupied by grass sod). While all the details aren’t sorted out, the aphids disappeared faster next to the alyssum plots than they did in the grassy control plots.

Gontijo used a sophisticated method known as “immuno-marking” to prove that the syrphids found in the apple trees had visited the alyssum flowers, further evidence that alyssum could promote biologi-cal control.

The results of the small-scale experiments are promising, Beers said.

“These experiment are the first steps in a much longer process,” she said. “We needed to pass the initial proof-of-concept tests: do these flowers attract beneficial insects, are they manageable in an orchard, and do we see a decrease in the pest populations. We passed all those tests.”

The next step will be to run experiments in commercial orchards. Beers said she is looking for funding to expand the project, adding “It’ll be a great opportunity for future graduate students to do good science that has a real-world impact on the way apple grow-ers manage pests.”

WSU scientists use flower power to combat orchard menace

Photos by Betsy Beers/WSUSurfing for syrphids: graduate student Lessando Gontijo nets syrphids to quantify their attraction to Sweet Alyssum.

Syrphid on alyssum.

Apple Review

The 2013 Apple/Apple Crop Protection Research Review will be held January 29-31 at the Confluence Technology Center in Wenatchee. For more informa-tion contact Kathy Coffey at 509-665-8271, extension 2, via email at: kathy@treefruitresearch.com or go to http://www.tree-fruitresearch.com/research-reviews.

NW Pear Review

The 2013 Northwest Pear Re-search Review will be held at the

UpcominGREviEWs

See UPCOMING on Page C4

January 16/17, 2013 • Lake CheLan Mirror/The LeavenworTh eCho/CashMere vaLLey reCord/Quad CiTy heraLd C3

Jennifer Witherbee, Execu-tive Director of the Washington Apple Education Foundation and Chelan resident, won the 2012 Washington State Horticulture Association Women’s Leadership Award for Service.

Witherbee was honored at an awards banquet held during the 108th annual meeting of the Washington State Horticulture Association meeting in early December.

Witherbee is a 2001 Eastern Oregon University graduate who holds a degree in politics, philosophy and economics. She has masters degree in business administration from Washington State University.

She is the chair person for the Washington State Secretary of State’s Charities Advisory Com-mittee.

George Allen was given the Silver Apple Award; Linda Bailey

received the Silver Pear Award; Leo Garcia won the Latino Lead-ership award and Ute Chambers received the Women’s Leader-ship Through Science Award.

Congressman Hastings delivers informative talk at Yakima conventionBy Michelle LovatoAssistant Editor

The Washington State Hor-ticulture Association held its 108th meeting Dec. 3, 4 and 5, 2012 at the Yakima Convention Center in Yakima.

The annual three-day confer-ence catered to the needs and concerns of the nation’s tree fruit growers, shippers and vendors.

Speakers at this year’s educa-tional forum discussed several lively topics, pertinent to the industry.

Organizers from WSHA, Washington State University and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission partnered for the event.

Conference leaders focused on a SWOT analysis of tree fruit industry in order to identify future strategic planning op-portunities.

The term SWOT stands for “strengths, weaknesses, oppor-tunities and threats.”

Eastern Washington Univer-sity professor, Dr. Patrick Jones, PhD and Desmond O’Rourke, PhD, Belrose, Inc., spoke about the economic impact of the tree fruit industry in Washington.

“We have the climate, the fa-

cilities, and the infrastructure to lead the tree fruit category but the greatest strategic advantage we have is human capital,” said David Douglas Washington State Horticulture Association Board President in a letter to industry leaders. “This industry is comprised of individual risk takers that strive to achieve, in-novate and continually improve yet it is an extremely collabora-tive group with the shared goal of making sure this industry thrives and exists for the next generation.”

Experts spoke on succession planning, upcoming legislation,

estate and income taxes, federal crop insurance, the H2A worker program and how the Affordable Care Act impacts fruit tree grow-ers and shippers.

Meeting leaders also ad-dressed implementing new tech-nology in the tree fruit industry, the continual fight against pests and the cost of production.

Congressman Doc Hastings delivered an informative talk

about the 2013 congressional agenda, and U.S. Apple Asso-ciation President, Nancy Foster spoke on how the Washington D.C. landscape changed after the 2012 elections.

A panel discussion, which was moderated by WSHA Exec-tive Director Bruce Grim and featured a discussion about the congress and the legislature’s interaction with attendees.

Leadership award for service presented toWitherbee at convention

Jennifer Witherbee, Executive Director of the Washington Apple Education Foundation

Congressman Doc Hastings

Continued from Page C3Hood River Best Western in Hood River, Oregon, February 19, 2013.

For researchers, here are im-portant dates to remember:

1. Deadline for submission of approved proposals plus continu-ing and final reports: Jan. 24, 2013 5 p.m.

2. PowerPoint show submission: February 15, 2013 - 5 p.m.

For questions or more infor-mation, contact Kathy Coffey kathy@treefruitresearch.com or (509)665-8271, extension 2 or go to http://www.treefruitresearch.com/research-reviews.

Technology Review

The Spring Technology Re-search Review will be held March 7 at the Washington Cat-tlemen’s Association building in Ellensburg. There is currently a Request for Pre-proposal for funding consideration. For more information, go to the “request for pre-proposals” page on this site.

For questions or more infor-

mation, contact Kathy Coffey at kathy@treefruitresearch.com or (509)665-8271, ext.2 or go to http://www.treefruitresearch.com/research-reviews.

UpcominG REviEWs

C4 Lake CheLan Mirror/The LeavenworTh eCho/CashMere vaLLey reCord/Quad CiTy heraLd • January 16/17, 2013

BLUELINE EQUIPMENT

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Traditional FacilityPeshastin 548-1700

See EXPANSION on Page D3

Crunch Pak’s new plant expansion will free space on Sunset HighwayBy Kacie ThriftStaff writer

Crunch Pak recently finished their plant expansion, which in turn, should allow more room for traffic on Sunset Highway.

On Sept. 18, Crunch Pak held an open house so the public could take tours of the new facility. A press release from Crunch Pak said the new addition allows the company to better serve its customers and meet the growing consumer demand for fresh sliced apple products.

The expansion technically started in February when they applied for the permit. However, construction didn’t really get moving until March, after the majority of the Sunset Highway construction was finished. Beth-lehem Construction of Cashmere was the contractor for the proj-ect along with sub-contractor Pipkin Construction, of out East Wenatchee.

The new space expanded the company’s processing and load-ing facility space by 39,000 square feet. Half of that space will be used for finished product storage and shipping. The other half will be used as additional processing space.

Cashmere Director of Planning

and Building, Mark Botello said the value of just the building is around $2.8 million. This does not include any of the apple slicing machinery or any of the costs for plumbing, mechanical work or the new parking lot.

The media release said the expanded space allows the com-pany to handle approximately 1 million pounds of raw product per week. Six loading docks were also included in the expansion. These docks will make it easier for the company to smooth the process on all levels of orders.

Crunch Pak President and CEO, John Graden, said Crunch Pak deals with around 250 trucks a week causing the highway in between Crunch Pak buildings to get blocked. The plant is shipping constantly except for Saturday night.

“This new facility is a very significant improvement. It’s good for us, good for the city, and good for the truckers,” Graden said. “This will help serve all of our customers.”

The new loading docks make more space available on the highway since trucks can load on Crunch Pak property instead of on the highway. Recently, the area on Sunset Highway where Crunch Pak is located has been a high traffic area due to the trucks

loading or unloading product. Doug Field, president and own-

er of Excel Fruit Brokerage, has worked with Crunch Pak since they first started out. He said apple growers have been able to benefit from Crunch Pak because they are purchasing apples from growers that are harder to sell.

Executive Director of Wash-ington Horticulture Association, Bruce Grimm said why Crunch Pak is so important to growers.

“The primary part of the mani-fest is large, high-colored apples that demand a high return in mar-ket place. Small, with less color apples, not so much. By taking those apples and turning them into a real value added product that’s been a real boon for the apple growers. They made more money on that fruit than they would have if they tried to push it in to the domestic market,” Grimm said.

Grimm also mentioned the jobs Crunch Pak has created for the area. Currently Crunch Pak employs 750 people at the plant. With the new expansion they will be able to increase that number to 800.

Diane Carson, one of the com-pany’s original founders and current board chairman, said File Photo by Kacie Thrift

Crunch Pak employees work in the new section of the Crunch Pak facility built over the summer. The new facility was made to allow more room on Sunset Highway.

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Office set to close doors after 12-year liquidation process recoups 78 percent of lost equityThe end looms for Growers CreditBy Nevonne McDanielsStaff Writer

Nancy Baker sits behind a folding card table in the office at 117 S. Delaware in Wenatchee, looking through photo albums and documents recording some of Growers Credit’s 66-year his-tory as she talks about locking the doors for good at the end of January.

The large 1950s-era powder-coated blue metal desk that Baker had used for more than a dozen years was sold in No-vember, along with three of the four remaining four-drawer file cabinets she had been working out of since the corporation stopped making loans and went into liquidation mode in 2000.

She placed an ad to sell the final pieces of office furniture this fall, thinking it would take time to find someone interested in the super-sized desk. When she got the call right away, she figured she could make do by borrowing her mother’s card table for a couple months rather than risk being unable to find a new home for the desk later. But it put a wrinkle in the previously well-organized office.

The former contents of the desk and file cabinets now are piled in strategic locations in three rooms. They’re still ac-cessible, but sometimes putting her hands on the right document takes a little extra time.

It won’t be a problem for long. The two outstanding member loans were paid off this fall and the final reimbursement

payment, a total of $301,598, was being prepped for mailing following the final official board meeting on Dec. 11.

Baker expects to close the doors for good Jan. 31 and will work part-time out of her home until filing final dissolution pa-pers on March 31.

Growers Credit Corporation, as it initially was christened, got its start offering crop production financing in January 1946. It loaned $589 million to growers in Chelan, Douglas and Okanogan counties through 1998, with less than one-tenth of 1 percent losses during that time.

At its peak, the co-op had 250 members and a $24 million line of credit.

In August 2000, following poor returns on crops in 1998 and 1999, Denver-based CoBank, the successor to St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives that had provided the the nonprofit’s line of credit, announced it was getting out of the ag lending business alto-gether.

That left then-Growers Credit manager Ron Ward two months to find another bank before the new crop season started.

“Normally that wouldn’t be a problem,” Baker said. Growers Credit had switched lenders be-fore. “We were a viable company, financially. If we would have had the financing, we could have worked out the issues.”

Those issues included a large carryover from the 1997 crop loans.

“Prices didn’t cover the grow-ers costs, so growers couldn’t cover their loans. The whole fruit industry was struggling,” she said.

But even so, it was recover-able. She said 70 percent of their members are still in the industry.

The short timeline was the more immediate problem, she said. And the bank couldn’t wait.

Growers Credit had a line of credit with the bank and bor-rowed on it based on what its members needed.

“We still owed several million to the bank that we had bor-rowed for the members,” she said. “We would borrow from CoBank and the members then borrow from us. The members then pay off the loans when the crops are sold. We put a lien on the crops so when the warehouse dispurses payments to growers, Growers Credit is in first posi-tion to collect on the crop. It’s a

two-year rotation, from the first crop year to the payment.”

In 1999, Growers Credit still had some loans out and had already financed the 2000 crop, waiting for proceeds to come in.

Without access to new financ-ing, the board and members voted to dissolve the nonprofit, which at the time had $12 million out in active loans.

Growers Credit closed its Okanogan office and cut its staff of eight to two - Ward and Baker.

The Growers Credit building at 1601 N. Wenatchee Ave. was sold in 2001 and in early 2002, Baker and Ward moved into a house-turned-office on Delaware owned by Growers Credit’s at-torneys, the Davis Arneil Law Firm.

The moving process included cleaning out the files in storage and shredding documents un-related to ongoing loan repay-ments.

The result reduced the need from 17 four-drawer file cabinets to four, with about 2,000 pounds of shredded material headed for the recycler.

Growers Credit paid what it owed to CoBank in 2002, leaving a little more than $5 million in member equity in the co-op that had been declared worthless by the bank.

The equity had been built up over the years, based on loan value. To join the co-op, mem-bers bought into the company based on production values, paying $100 for one share of com-mon stock. The buy-in, and a sur-charge on the amount borrowed, went into an equity account, in each members’ name.

When the equity was lost, members had to write it off on their taxes, but the board of directors decided to try and recoup some of that by pursuing the outstanding loans as a con-tinuing effort of the liquidation process.

“They felt like a portion of it was recoverable,” Baker said.

Photo courtesy Growers CreditGrowers Credit’s Board of Directors and the nonprofit’s sole employee gather for a final meeting on Dec. 11 to talk about the closure of the office, 12 years after starting a liquidation process that has helped members recoup 78 percent of the equity lost. Pictured at front is Nancy Baker, office manager and assistant secretary/treasurer, the company’s only employee. Second row, from left, Gary Roberts, board member from Oroville, and Vice President Floyd Stutzman of Monitor. Back row, from left, President Bob Petersen of Chelan/Manson; Steve Joy, past general manager; Roger Hodgson, board member from Omak; and Secretary/Treasurer Gene Handley of East Wenatchee.

See DOORS TO CLOSE on Page D3

D2 Lake CheLan Mirror/The LeavenworTh eCho/CashMere vaLLey reCord/Quad CiTy heraLd • January 16/17, 2013

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EXPANSION: Crunch Pak largest supplier of fresh sliced apples

Crunch Pak intends on staying in Cashmere. She said they no longer have the production plant in Pennsylvania and want to con-tinue to keep their business in the Cashmere area.

Crunch Pak has quickly grown in the past few years to become the largest supplier of fresh sliced apples in the nation. The com-pany produces more than 1 billion apples slices a year.

This is just one step Crunch Pak

has taken to expand their plant in the past couple of years. The next piece of land Crunch Pak is look-ing to purchase is the old mill site in Cashmere. Currently, the Port of Chelan County is making efforts to have the site cleaned up by July

31, 2013. Once the site is clean, Crunch Pak has an agreement with the Port of Chelan County to purchase the property.

Kacie Thrift may be reached at 548-5286 or reporter@cashmere-valleyrecord.com.

Port of Chelan County extends amendment to Crunch Pak purchase and sale agreement By Kacie ThriftStaff writer

The Port of Chelan County has extended the feasibility period with Crunch Pak concerning the purchase and sale agreement for the Mill Site in Cashmere.

In a recent Port of Chelan County meeting, the Port At-torney, Pete Fraley, said Crunch Pak was open to a one-year extension or an extension agree-ment to the end of July in 2013. Crunch Pak may be open to the extension but the Port wants the deal to close as soon as the property is ready.

At the meeting on Sept. 6, the Port Board of Commissioners authorized a motion to extend the agreement to July 31, 2013, which corresponds with the wood waste removal projects and the timeline that needs to be completed.

If needed, the Port has the option to extend Crunch Pak’s feasibility period to the end of the October 2013.

The reason Crunch Pak is waiting to purchase the old mill site property is because of a large amount of wood waste. Mark Urdahl, Port of Chelan County executive director, said the goal is to try and get a “no

further action” letter from the Department of Ecology. This ba-sically means the site is cleaned up to the Department of Ecol-ogy’s standards.

“I don’t believe Crunch Pak wants to purchase it until we get a fairly high level of assurance it’s a clean site and we under-stand that,” Urdahl said. “That would be what anybody would do who is buying a site.”

Senator Linda Evans Parlette approved a budget during the last legislation of $1.5 million to deal with removing the ac-cumulated wood waste on the mill site and prepare it for rede-velopment. The capital budget appropriated that money to the Port and WSDOE. The Port has been working with the Yakima DOE office to make a clean up plan.

“We’re negotiating an inter-agency agreement between the Department of Ecology and Port of Chelan County that will describe what we’re going to do with the funds and how the clean up will be accomplished,” Urdahl said.

It’s possible additional work will be necessary, but Urdahl said they are currently unaware of any additional work. Urdahl said the clean up process in-volves digging and removing

waste, so it’s possible during the process crews might find additional clean up that needs to be done.

The historical mill site used different standards than are used today. Urdahl said in years past when there was material in low spots it would be pushed into the ground and filled. JC Baldwin, Port of Chelan County secretary, said depending on what is found during the sam-pling, more money could be available.

“The Department of Ecology has been very cooperative with us, and if other things are dis-covered in the clean up effort, they have expressed a willing-ness to bring more funds to the project,” Urdahl said.

Fraley told the Board an effort in getting additional funds and revising the interagency agree-ment could occur this winter or early next spring, if needed.

Wood waste, which decays over time, is 20 to 30 years old at the mill site. Urdahl said he believes the mill site is not as much of an environmental issue as it is a structural issue. He said if Crunch Pak wants to build on the site and place heavy loads, the waste needs to be removed and replaced with a structural fill they can build on it.

The Port is expecting the site clean up to be finished by July 31, 2013. If more issues are discovered, the Port will deal with them as they arrive. Urdahl said Crunch Pak has been made fully aware of how they want the clean up done right before purchasing the property.

“The choice is to do it quick or to do it right. Do it right wins and that’s good for everybody,” he said.

The money collected from the sale of the old mill site will go to other capital investments. Urdahl said when the Port of Chelan county sells, the money goes to capital real estate or buildings. The Port doesn’t spend it on operating costs. In-stead the money is reinvested in something else.

“There are a lot of ideas that come across commissioners desks off and on over the years so there certainly wont be a shortage of requests where this money can go,” Urdahl said. “They money is not pre-bud-geted, it will go in the capital reserve account and when we do budgets and opportunities arise we will decide how to spend it.”

Kacie Thrift may be reached at 548-5286 or reporter@cash-merevalleyrecord.com.

“Some were uncollectible - they had gone into bankruptcy or foreclosure.”

Other co-ops facing similar cir-cumstances turned over collection efforts to lawyers, with limited re-sults - in the “single digit” percent range or less, she said.

Instead, Growers Credit board members decided it would be more effective to handle it themselves.

“That’s what I’ve been doing - the collection aspect,” Baker said, working on collecting what remained on 153 loans ranging from $50,000 to $500,000.

And she’s been doing it as the sole employee since Ward retired in 2002. He and former manager Steve Joy helped set up the pro-cess and organize the loans.

And all of it was done at the direction of the board members, which included Robert Peterson, Floyd Stutzman, Gene Handley, Roger Hodgson, Gerald Roberts and Richard Rogahn, who passed away in 2004.

The meetings, originally set every month, had been changed to twice a year for the past few years to discuss what was left on the col-lections. The final board meeting was Dec. 11, when the board issued the final payments.

In all, Growers Credit collected $3.9 million - close to 79 percent of the $5,024,627 in lost equity.

The board’s original goal was 50 percent.

“We did well above that,” Baker said. “I think it helped that they were dealing with someone they know. I don’t know that it would have worked as well otherwise.”

The board members also didn’t know the process would continue for a decade.

They didn’t set a time frame, she said. But as the collection process got going, it went so well, they didn’t want to stop as long as any of the loans were still collectible.

“We don’t know of any others that have been able to repay mem-ber equities,” she said. “The others just walked away,” she said. “This is not the norm.”

The one thing they didn’t do was discount the loans.

“We didn’t make any deals on loans. We worked out extensions or went after them legally. We didn’t think it would be fair to the others to discount them. We wanted to make sure we collected as much as we could, so we get it back to the members. That was our goal,” Baker said.

The process wasn’t always

pretty.For the more difficult collections,

which included foreclosures and even an eviction, Baker had help from the Davis Arneil attorneys, Bob White and Tom O’Connell, and from CPA Jim Littrell.

She recalls one case where, in the process of reviewing a loan by a member who had filed bank-ruptcy, they noticed he should have been making monthly pay-ments to Growers Credit as part of the bankruptcy plan. The re-quirement had been overlooked by both sides.

“We talked to the grower and they started paying annually,” she said. “It wasn’t a problem. It was tense with a few. But I had worked with the growers for so long, they knew me. The biggest challenge was getting them to call back. They knew what I wanted.”

If the phone calls didn’t get a

response, she sent letters.“Eventually you could get hold

of them,” she said.She was able to close out eight

loans in the last two years.“The board approved every-

thing,” she said. “A lot of the time by email, but they had a full say in everything.”

By June of this year, just two loans were left on the books. One was scheduled to be paid off in Oc-tober. The other wasn’t scheduled for a final payoff until 2018.

“We were pushing him to refi-nance, but figured it was going to take some time,” she said.

In August, the refinancing came through.

That meant they were able to start wrapping up the opera-tion with the final loan payoff in October.

“It’s bittersweet,” Baker said. “I feel good about what we’ve done,

collect money and get it back to the members.

But the history - all that will be gone. It’s hard to go through the files and see things that tell about the industry.”

She said the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center was able to take some of the old office items when the office on Wenatchee Avenue closed.

And the board donated all the Apple Blossom Royalty photos back to that organization. But she’s not sure what’s going to happen to the rest of the records and is concerned about losing an important piece of the industry’s history.

“I’d keep them, but what hap-pens when I’m gone?” she said.

Baker has been with the com-pany for 34 years. She started in August 1978 working in the field office and started working as a bookkeeper in 1988.

When Ward retired in 2002, after helping get the process set up, it became a one-person show, though Ward and former manager Steve Joy remained available for consultation when needed.

“I have enjoyed my job and the people I work with,” she said.

She briefly considered looking for another job, but she wanted to see the liquidation process through.

“I will miss the communica-tion with the members, many of whom have become friends,” she said. “That’s what I will miss the most.”

The thought of finding another job is a little disturbing, she ad-mits.

“The scariest aspect now is looking for a job,” she said, which includes putting together her resume for the first time in more than 30 years.

DOORS TO CLOSE: ‘I will miss the communication with the members’

Photo courtesy Growers CreditGrowers Credit Wenatchee office staff from 1997 pictured, from left, Nancy Syria (loan officer), Nancy Baker (accounting), Ron Ward (controller and assistant manager), Steve Joy (manager) and Tammy Kay (administrative assistant).

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D4 Lake CheLan Mirror/The LeavenworTh eCho/CashMere vaLLey reCord/Quad CiTy heraLd • January 16/17, 2013