Summary:
In January of 2023, a series of 3 virtual nationwide meetings was conducted by the PACMAN Research and Extension team to update growers about the current state of precision crop load management of apples. At the end of February and early March, CCE LOF conducted 3 Ag-tech sessions in person in Rochester, NY, and one statewide virtual session. More than 450 people in total attended the PACMAN virtual meetups and the 4 Ag-tech sessions offered by CCE LOF during the winter months of 2023. CCE LOF carried out one pruning severity study on ‘Honeycrisp’, compared and validated the use of two thinning prediction models (FSDM and the FGRM) on ‘Honeycrisp’ and ‘Gala’ with grower collaborators, and worked with several companies who are developing rovers or drones to count flowers and fruitlets (Pometa, Orchard Robotics, Vivid, and Outfield). In July, CCE LOF conducted a very successful fruit summer tour in Wayne County where several digital technologies were featured to more than 250 tour participants. In the 2023 growing season and in a few more orchards in the Lake Ontario Fruit region and at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, the research, development, and first adoption of several digital technologies has been taking place to help improve the accuracy and labor efficiency of precision crop load management.
Cornell research and extension team: T.L. Robinson (Cornell AgriTech), L. Gonzalez (Cornell AgriTech), S. Howden (Cornell AgriTech), Kathy Campo (Cornell AgriTech), M. Miranda Sazo (CCE LOF), C. Kahlke (CCE LOF), L. Tee (CCE LOF), and D. Acquilano (CCE LOF).
Full PDF of the report download below…
