12/07/05 Post Harvest part of the show

For years, the Post-Harvest Conference has been held in conjunction with the Washington State Horticultural Association annual convention. But as Jim McPherson of the Washington State Tree Fruit Research Commission points out, today's Post Harvest Conference has more become a focal point of the final day of the Hort. MCPHERSON: The post-harvest conference actually in the last couple, three years has been moving towards not a separate stand alone entity but it really integrated into the whole conference itself. So it's not so much the post harvest conference any more, it's how we handle and ship our fruit as part as how we grow it. Topics from Smart Fresh to postharvest quality of specialty varieties like Honeycrisps and Cripps Pink are on the agenda for the Post-Harvest Conference today. And McPherson is quick to point out those are some of many examples of the interconnection between aspects of the apple industry. Such examples started during Monday's opening session of the Hort. MCPHERSON: Then we have Steve Faivre of John Deere talking about well how can we manage the orchards and the packing sheds to operate more efficiently & a perfect example where we can't separate post-harvest from pre-harvest or production. It's all the same thing. What I like about this conference in totality is it's becoming more integrated. The grower is thinking about the fruit quality that reaches the consumer, so that we have a delightful experience each and every time. The trade show, the second day of the Spanish language program, and the Washington Apple Education Foundation are all highlights of this final day of the Hort.