New Zealand apple growers are maximising profitability by improving fruit quality and uniformity. By Anna Mouton. “Our goal is consistency of targeted fruit that will pay top dollar,” said Craig Hornblow. He is an AgFirst founder with nearly 40 years…
Design planting systems that are simple, narrow, accessible, productive, and enduring. By Anna Mouton. “Orchard systems are not about what we know right now,” said horticultural consultant Craig Hornblow. “Every time we plant a tree, we’re planting with the belief…
The Lingenfelder brothers reveal the secrets of success with Cheeky. By Anna Mouton. The farm Rustfontein in Vyeboom has been in the Lingenfelder family since 1930 and the first apples were planted in 1978. The third generation of Lingenfelders —…
Attention to light management sustains high yields and pack-outs in a 27-year-old Packham’s Triumph orchard. By Anna Mouton. The trees produced 120 tonnes per hectare in 2022 with an average fruit size of 73 millimetres and Class 1 pack-outs of…
Christo Strydom of specialist pear-packhouse Wolfpack and Buchuland production manager Henk Rossouw discuss two top-performing pear orchards. By Anna Mouton. Buchuland lies just outside Ceres in the Warm Bokkeveld — an area that Strydom describes as Forelle heaven. Their best…
Tree architecture and training systems of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. By Grethe Bestbier. If the orchard is seen as a jigsaw puzzle, then tree architecture is the most important piece. According to Dr Alberto Dorigoni, pomologist at the Edmund Mach…