Ed Wittenbach Named 1999 Apple Grower of the Year

IF you think the world is moving faster today than it was 10 years ago, you’re right. That theory also holds true for the apple industry, according to Ed Wittenbach of Wittenbach Orchards in Belding, MI. Wittenbach, who won the Apple Grower of the Year award in 1999, says that today’s growers must have a pulse on the industry, including new varieties and consumer preferences, in order to keep up. “You’re no longer just a grower today,” he says. “You’re a grower and a seller.”

For his part, Wittenbach and his son Mike have increased their acreage in recent years to focus more on new varieties, including those that are tightly managed, and have gotten more involved in the packing side of the business. “We’re closer to the end product, which helps you be a better grower by not losing sight of what happens to the fruit after it’s picked.”

In the orchard, Wittenbach has been impressed by the movement toward softer chemicals and products such as lures and mating disruptors. “We’re more alert today of the environment, and this is helping us put a safer product on the market,” he says.
However, on a broader scale, Wittenbach realizes that you also have to be willing to change with the times on both a local and global level. As Wittenbach notes, the world has come together, and some countries that weren’t considered advanced before are making great economic progress and could represent significant market opportunities.
One thing Wittenbach is proud of, perhaps more than anything else, is that his farm has remained a profitable family-run business for years. “I’m still interested in all aspects of our farm, and where it is headed in the future,” Wittenbach says. “We try to set our sights five to 10 years down the road, to make sure we’re always looking ahead.”

ONE of the hot catch phrases these days in the world of fruit growing is “target fruit.” It’s the fruit that’s most profitable for the grower, so obviously it should be the priority. George Allan, who grows apples and cherries with his brother Dave in Naches, WA, certainly considers it a priority. “We adapt horticulturally to what kind of fruit the buyers want. We call it targeting programs,” he said.

Growing fruit is not about getting good yields, or at least it’s not just about getting good yields. It’s about getting top yields of the fruit that provides the greatest returns, Allan said. “Instead of bins per acre, it’s bins per acre of targeted fruit,” he said. “If you can change the percent of the targeted fruit by 10% or 20%, it’s going to affect your bottom line.”

Allan is obviously a progressive grower. But there’s nothing all that forward-thinking in his comments, until you consider that he made the above statements more than a decade ago! In fact, those quotes were attributed to Allan in an article that appeared in the February 1998 issue of American/Western Fruit Grower. The article, quite presciently as it turned out, was about how the Allans had been chosen Apple Grower(s) of the Year.

Today, the business hasn’t changed that much. The name of the game is still the bottom line, so the Allans still try to grow target fruit. “We’re working in that direction,” George said recently. “But with all the new varieties and the battle for shelf space all the time, it’s probably three times as important as it was in 1998.”

As for the future, it continues to look bright for the Allan brothers. A lot of agricultural businesses might struggle with succession issues, said George, mainly because there’s a lack of a next generation to take over the business. “But we’ve got a lot of good next-generation people in the right spots — they’re pushing us aside,” he said with a laugh. “I’m 63, and he (Dave) is 64, but we both feel like we’re just getting wound up. There’s still a lot we want to do in the fruit business.”

AN icon of leadership in the fruit industry, George Lamont of Lamont Fruit Farm in Albion, NY, was named Apple Grower of the Year in 1997 for his innovation in trying new production systems, cooperation with Extension research, and work to form a cooperative partnership among growers in the East to market fruit.

As president of the Premier Apple Cooperative, which pulls together the major fruit marketers in the East and has membership in nine states, Lamont has worked tirelessly for years to coordinate and improve apple marketing. Formerly the executive director of the New York State Horticultural Society, where he testified to Congress on behalf of fruit growers on issues such as labor reform, Lamont is a reputable leader and advocate in the industry.

He says he is excited for fruit growers today because the market is so much better. “Prices are a lot higher in relation to production costs and the whole industry is much more profitable,” he says. “The apple industry today is much more vibrant and dynamic. It’s exciting to be in it today, when growers can pay their bills, because we’ve been through some very tough times. Money is flowing into the industry, growers can buy new equipment and bins, build storage — things they couldn’t do in the ‘90s.”

Established in 1815, Lamont is the sixth generation to own and operate Lamont Fruit Farm. Though the farm is currently in new management under Lamont’s business partner, Rod Farrow, Lamont is still highly involved in the business and has not yet retired. Of his many accomplishments, however, Lamont says humbly that survival of his family farm has been the greatest, and attributes the farm’s diversification and vertical integration up the marketing chain, getting into storage, packing, and marketing relationships, for its longevity.

“The ability to change everything from varieties, planting systems, marketing, and labor sources particularly -- the ability to make quick changes in any phase of the business -- is key to being a successful apple grower today,” Lamont says.




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