As Washington State University Extension agent Dana Faubion is moving on to work for AgroFresh, the company behind 1-MCP (SmartFresh). With the career change, Faubion is also exiting his position as Tree Fruit columnist for American/Western Fruit Grower. Faubion's six years of columns addressed critical issues such as mechanical harvesting, orchard mechanization, and water rights. Here is a sampling of the sage advice he has provided over the years:

"As the buds push in the spring, their tolerance to low temperature decreases. Orchardists constantly need to know at what temperature they will begin to experience bud mortality. This necessitates the accurate use of expensive frost control systems. Best management of the system is dependent on a good estimate of bud hardiness and orchard temperature. Various types of thermometers determine orchard temperature. Thermometers can fail and need to be routinely checked for accuracy."
- Fine Tune Your Thermometer, March 2000

"In my opinion, MCP is likely to have an impact on our industry akin to the tractor, mechanical refrigeration, electric motors, dwarfing rootstocks, etc. MCP will be huge. Everybody in tree fruit better have a good understanding of what this chemical does because it is going to change our industry."
- MCP- A New Ethylene Inhibiting Agent For Fruit Storage, April 2000

"It is my guess that, in the future, there will be two types of growers: #1 will be a large, low-cost, high-volume grower-packer-shipper, a vertically integrated commodity grower who is relatively risk adverse. The second type of grower will be a small, high-risk, non-commodity grower, and a trendy marketing specialist with some form of direct marketing. The two growers will have different needs and will slowly start to impact the mission statements of the various commissions, associations, and Cooperative Extension, which will dilute their ability to influence policy dramatically."
- Where Did All The Bad Growers Go, November 2000

"Some of the factors that weigh in on flower formation include light levels, crop load, spur leaf area, variety, vigor, stress, rootstock, seed number, temperature, nitrogen levels, growth habit, pruning, and plant growth regulators. And you thought doing your income tax was complicated."
- Perennial Tree, Biennial Crop, February 2001

"Product differentiation is more difficult than yield. Growers need to know what is going to return profitably in 2001, and then grow it and pick it. This season, leave fruit in the field that will not return a profit."
- Increase Your Profits With High Yield and Differentiation, April 2001

"How should an orchardist prepare for the lower returns that generally come with higher production? Several themes emerge, including lowering costs by maximizing production; maximizing return with fruit quality; minimizing fixed and variable costs; and minimizing capital costs."
- Spending The Year Wisely, January 2002

"Culls are boat anchors to ships named 'Profit.' Typically in Washington, sunburn cullage rates range from 2% to 30%. If the sunburn gets into the bin, it becomes a drag to block profitability. Costs associated with that bin include picking, hauling, packing, taxes, and a cull charge all getting subtracted from your profit, plus the loss of revenue." - Controlling Sunburn, June 2003

"The antidote to global competition is increasing domestic apple fruit quality and decreasing cost per unit. This is essentially the mission statement of the National Tree Fruit Technology Roadmap Initiative. ... I am working with several groups that are designing and building new mechanical assist harvesters. One question that has to be answered prior to any development of new harvesters is how wide the orchard rows are if you are not using ladders. It's a deceptively tough question."
- Planting For The Future, February 2004

"1-MCP has enhanced apple quality at the consumer level. Let me repeat that. It has enhanced apple quality at the consumer level. How long have you been waiting to hear that?"
- The Benefits of 1-MCP, April 2004

"Profitability of the domestic tree fruit industry is currently at risk due to labor issues. The risk is coming from the effects of globalization, inflation of local labor rates, labor taxes and insurance, and a decreasing trend in labor availability and quality."
- Moving Away From Ladders, February 2005

" 'Production costs down, fruit quality up' is my mandate for the future. However, it is also an interesting way of looking at the past. The lowering of production costs has happened primarily through innovations that increased productivity of the labor and land." - The Orchard Of The Future, November/December 2005

"We have been endeavoring to increase the productivity of the orchard workforce. Our team has had great success showing that simple constant motion machines can increase productivity by 30% for common tasks like pruning and thinning."
- Improving Production and Harvest Efficiency, February 2006