Flathead Lake Cherry Growers Quickview Review

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1 P U B L I S H E D B Y T H E F L A T H E A D L A K E C H E R R Y G R O W E R S, I N C A M O N T A N A A G R I C U L T U R A L C O O P E R A T I V E S I N C E I M P O R T A N T D A T E S Flathead Lake Cherry Growers Quickview Review Q U A R T E R L Y N E W S L E T T E R From The President Bruce Johnson 3 R D Q U A R T E R Spring Grower Meeting Saturday, April 16 Yellow Bay Cherry Blossom Festival Saturday, May 14 Pre-Harvest Grower Meeting Saturday, June 25 Polson Main Street Flathead Lake Cherry Festival Sat. & Sun. July Polson Montana Cherry Symposium Kwa Taq Nuk Resort Wednesday, September 14 Coop members, Another harvest has come and gone. We all wish the rain would have given us a break this year but no luck there. You all know the cull percentages were high and from what we have seen and heard the cherry prices were also high. We will let you know about the payouts just as soon as we can. Last year that happened in late September. Remember, if you sold 200 or more pounds of cherries this year privately, then you need to complete the Cherry Assessment form and send it to the Montana Department of Agriculture. A fee of ½ (.005) cent per pound is your contribution. The money collected funds the Cherry Research and Market Development Program. Some of past years collections helped fund the September 14 Cherry Symposium to Polson this year. See page three (3) of this newsletter for more information about the symposium, its speakers and agenda. New Board of Director Announced Administrator Barb Hammons Editor /Publisher Ken Edgington Brian Peterson, cherry grower and owner of Cherry Hill LLC Orchard, has been named to the Flathead Lake Cherry Growers Board of Directors. Brian comes from a family of cherry growers. His father was a long-time member and Montana grower. With his years of cherry experience and dedication to, Brian will bring valuable experience and input to s current Board of Directors.

2 P A G E 2 Montana Dept. Of Ag Trains Cherry Workers As a service to Flathead Lake Cherry Growers, Montana REO (Rural Education Opportunities) conducted two (2) workshops that provided necessary education covering important topics needed for meeting WPS (Worker Protection Service) and GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certification requirements. The training was provided by Ann Prunuske from REO. Attending the two training sessions was in-excess of 100 migrant workers. The training sessions were presented in both English and Spanish using a local translator. In addition to these two meetings Kima Caddell, from the Montana Dept. of Ag., conducted a special WPS meeting for orchard owners and managers to go over the changes that will be needed to fulfill the requirements for Cherry Sorting High-Tech Style by Terry Hankinson, Monson Fruit Company cherries get special attention when they pass through Monson s new Compact Optical Sorter. This equipment performs the following operations. The sorter can sort upwards of 45,000 cherries per minute. This is roughly 20+ tons per hour of throughput. Each cherry has 32 pictures taken of it from 3 different angles. Each cherry is rotated forwards and backwards, as allowed by the stem, to capture as much surface area as possible. Each cherry is graded by size, color, firmness and defect. This is done using not only normal light but also the infrared spectrum as well. The cherry is then sent to the package, or drop, that fits that particular cherry best based on the sorter s evaluation. To insure that no good fruit is wasted, the sorting machines are constantly monitored by human beings to verify that only bad fruit is being rejected. This Hi-Tech optical sorting process allows Monson to perform custom mixes and variations of cherries exclusively to meet a specific customer s order.

3 P A G E 3 First Montana Cherry Symposium In Polson The Cherry Advisory Committee, Montana Department of Ag, Flathead Lake Cherry Growers Inc., Monson Fruit Company, Westland Seed Company, and Glacier Fresh, sponsored a Cherry Symposium in Polson on Wednesday, September 14, The symposium was a hands on interactive learning experience bringing together local cherry growers and industry consultants from as far away as British Columbia, Canada. The Main Speakers at the event were: Dr. Peter Toivonen Greg Norton Mike Omeg Lorri Brenneman Laurie Kerzicnik Durc Setzer Kim Mangold Jack Stivers Topics addressed at the symposium included Cherry Nutrition, Horticulture, Compost, Pruning, Pollinators, Soil and Post Harvest Irrigation. The format of the symposium was lecture sessions, panel sessions and breakout sessions. The event concluded with a Cherry Recipe Competition complete with prizes, a Cook-Off and Social Hour. Tabletree LLC & Juice Project Update Pictured are Tabletree Montana LLC employees bottling its first cherry juice from Flathead cherries. The cherries were grown by members of the Flathead Lake Cherry Growers Inc., a Montana cooperative since While waiting renovations to the Finley Point warehouse, Tabletree is bottling its juice this year at the Mission Mountain Enterprises Inc. in Ronan, Montana. Once all renovations have been made to the Flathead Lake Cherry Growers warehouse in order to accommodate juicing, the entire operation and equipment will be moved to this permanent facility on Finley Point. The plan ultimately calls for other fruits in addition to cherries to be juiced at the new location. This is a joint project between Tabletree Montana LLC, the Flathead Lake Cherry Growers, Inc., and a grant from the Montana Department of Agriculture.

4 P A G E 4 Family Returns 17 Years In A Row To The Flathead! Cherry harvest time in the Flathead is Family Fun Time! This Bozeman family has come to the Flathead to camp, boat, vacation and pick cherries every year for the past 17 years. The thrill of the pick is a forever experience. To the left are Over The Years picture comparisons of how the Above: The Tesseneer Family, Lisa, Jim, Malea, Ben and their cousins above brother and sister have changed since their first visit even though the cherry picking experience has remained the same. From Mess it up to Ham it up Ben Tesseneer Ben and Malea Tesseneer Self-Anointed Cherry Blossom Queen! Got An Interesting Cherry Picture or Story? Bees and tourists are not the only ones attracted to cherries at bloom time! Looks like this regal, bovine beauty has crowned herself with cherry blossoms! If you have an interesting picture or story of something that happened at your cherry orchard send it to us. We will include it on our website in the Photo Gallery section and/or feature it in an upcoming newsletter.

5 Answer: Crown Jewel of the Continent P A G E 5 In Memory Of Robert B. Ekblad (February 1, 1930 August 13, 2016) Long time cherry grower passes away peacefully on Saturday, August 13, 2016 in Polson, Montana. Robert was born in Hot Springs, Montana on February 1, 1930 and grew up on the family cattle ranch. He graduated from Hot Springs High School and later received a degree in industrial engineering from Montana State University after which he worked in the Aerospace industry in Washington D.C. and California. In 1965 he joined the Equipment Development Center at the Department of Agriculture U.S. Forest Service in Missoula where he was part of a team that researched, designed, tested and evaluated equipment and products to make them more efficient, safe or suitable for the Forest Service. In 1990, he was awarded the USDA Forest Service Chief s Award for Technology Transfer. Robert was married to his lifelong friend since kindergarten, Phyllis O. Preston, for over 40 years. Their most treasured time was working together to build their Flathead Lake house near Dayton, where they enjoyed life on the lake and tending to their cherry orchard. Robert was an avid skier well into his 70s and in 1989 he and Phyllis participated in the Great Montana Centennial Cattle Drive, riding across the prairie and through the mountains of Montana for six days. They marked their trail drive cow with the original Ekblad J3 branding iron. You can read more about Robert s life accomplishments at the following link. Test Your Montana Trivia By What Other Name Is Glacier National Park Known? Glacier National Park is a beautiful, vibrant place to hike and camp. There are over 700 miles of hiking trails within the park. Going-tothe-Sun Road, which cuts through the park, is on America s list for being one of the most scenic drives. The Flathead Lake Cherry Growers, Inc. P.O. Box 2049 Bigfork, Montana Phone: Fax: hammons@centurytel.net