Some of you may know Harry Hoch of La Crescent, MN. Hoch is a very knowledgeable grower with much experience with Integrated Pest Management. In his Spring newsletter, Hoch announced that he will be transitioning all of his fruit production to organic practices.
Here is what Harry said in his newsletter:
“After long discussions and looking at our options, we have decided to convert all of our fruit production to organic practices this year. This year we will have our first certified organic fruit on the farm. All of our berry production should be certified this year, and about five acres of our apples. The rest of the farm will be on schedule to become certified organic over the next three years. This is a big step for us. It is a challenge to grow fruit organically in our humid Midwestern climate. We will most likely have a decline in the percentage of fresh market fruit, so this means we should have more fruit for processing. Our young orchards are increasing in productivity so we expect our volume to increase this year, this should offset the reduced percentage of first grade fruit.
We have to thank all the coops and Coop Partners
Warehouse for their support in our transition to organic production. We would not have attempted this without their encouragement and willingness to carry our transitional fruit.”
There will be a field day at Hoch Orchard and Gardens June 27-28. For more details on the field day, see the Spring newsletter of the Midwest Organic Tree Fruit Network: http://www.mosesorganic.org/treefruit/news4-2.pdf
You can download Harry Hoch’s newsletter here.
Hoch Orchard and Gardens going 100% organic
