The Fruit Growers News - November 2001


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Growers in Hood River County in Oregon have increased production of varieties such as Bosc, red d’Anjou and Comice for the fresh market. (Photo courtesy of Lynn Ketchum and Bob Rost, Oregon State University)

Pears in the Hood

Hood River growers branching out from d’Anjou as mainstay

By Karen Gentry Associate Editor
Any fresh d’Anjou pear eaten in the United States is likely from Hood River County in Oregon. Hood River and Wenatchee, Wash. are the main producers of the d’Anjou pear, according to Steve Castagnoli, county Extension agent in Hood River County. What Red Delicious is for apples in Washington State, the green d’Anjou is for pears grown in Hood River. “It’s our predominant variety. It doesn’t require thinning and is not prone to alternate bearing,” said Castagnoli. He said the variety is well suited for the weather and climate conditions of Hood River County, producing good fruit size and quality. In the hopes of better returns, pear growers are increasing production of winter pears other than green d’Anjou including Bosc, red d’Anjou and Comice. Castagnoli said the green d’Anjou has become like a commodity and growers on average have been losing money with the variety. “The market may be more favorable to other varieties that are more of a specialty variety,” he said. Actually apples dominated Hood River prior to 1919. Numerous apple varieties were produced since the first apple orchard was planted in 1876. Early on the Yellow Newtown Pippen and Spitzenburg emerged as the main varieties. That changed when a severe freeze in 1919 killed many apple orchards. “Apparently pears came through that freeze in better shape than the apples,” said Castagnoli. Many growers replanted with d’Anjou, Bartlett and Bosc pears. Of the approximately 14,500 tree fruit acres, roughly 80% are planted to pears in Hood River County today. Approximately 80% of the pears, including most of the winter pears produced and one-third of the Bartletts produced go to the fresh market. The remaining Bartlett pears go to processing, primarily canning, according to Castagnoli. Two-thirds of the pear production in the Pacific Northwest goes to the domestic market while one-third is for exports primarily to Mexico and Canada. Today there are about 300 second, third and fourth generation pear growers in Hood River County. Agriculture is a main pillar of the economy in the county alongside timber industry and tourism because of wind surfing on the Columbia River and the natural surroundings, an hour from metro Portland. Winter pears grown include the green d’Anjou, Bosc, red d’Anjou and Comice varieties while the Bartlett variety is the dominant summer pear. With the elevation differences in the county from 500 feet to right around 2,000 feet there’s a progression in the development in the fruit with lower elevations harvesting earlier, according to Castagnoli. The d’Anjou is harvested in Hood River the first week of September while the Bartlett and other summer ripened varieties are harvested in mid-August, he said. “The main distinction is summer pears are harvested earlier and don’t require extended cold storage to ripen properly,” Castagnoli said. Winter pears require four to eight days in cold storage to ripen properly. All the winter pears except for culls go to the fresh market. Pear growers do an annual battle with the codling moth, traditionally using a broad spectrum insecticide for control. In recent years the growers have been using IPM techniques such as pheromone traps or timing their spray applications, according to Castagnoli. More recently they’ve used mating disruption for codling moth control. An added benefit with mating disruption is that when used it helps control the pear psylla through biological control, another key pest. Most pear trees in Hood River are close to standard size, mostly grown with a central leader training system. Castagnoli said there are some clonal rootstocks slightly less than standard size. Pear growers have been faced with competition from the Southern Hemisphere. Castagnoli said that the marketing of pears produced in the Southern Hemisphere, primarily Chile and Argentina, coincide with marketing of winter pears from Hood River County. Pear growers have been faced with several poor market years in a row which is starting to have an effect on the ability of growers to stay in business, Castagnoli says. Low prices and advertisements for Chilean pears spurred pear growers from Hood River County to action. Camille Hukari, a pear and apple grower in Hood River was one of the organizers of the Tractor Coalition, a series of parades designed to attract the attention of the media and the public to the plight of pear growers and others in agriculture. The Tractor Coalition was formed in response to beautifully done ads promoting pears that aired in the Portland, Ore. area. Trouble was the ads promoted pears from Chile with the taglines of two major U.S. retail chains. “We went ballistic,” said Hukari. “We are losing our shorts on d’ Anjou,” she said. She said that Chile exports 5.5 million boxes of Bosc and Bartlett pears in direct competition with green d’Anjou, Bosc, Comice and red d’Anjou grown in Oregon. She said growers have been selling d’Anjou well below the cost of production. Growers angered by the ads, part of a $2 million ad campaign across the country, organized the first tractor parade in Hood River on Feb. 7, 2001. “In Oregon we’re very much a specialty crop state,” Hukari said. To organize the parade all the businesses that depend on agriculture were called including the fuel, electric and spray companies, packinghouses and equipment dealers. The television stations and other media were contacted about the parade that garnered nationwide attention. The parade was 2.5 miles long, led by an 18-wheeler flatbed truck that became the stage for speakers to help educate the public about the plight of Hood River pear growers and American agriculture. “We had no idea what participation we would get,” said Hukari. More than 400 people ended up participating in the parade itself including growers initially reluctant to get involved. “It was just amazing,” she said. Parades also took place in Salem, Ore., and in Washington in Yakima and Wenatchee. She said workers in Chile are paid approximately $60 a week while the average wage on her farm is $66 per day. The consolidation of grocery stores has also been a factor. “The purpose of the parade was to educate the American consumer and ask for their assistance,” Hukari said. She wants consumers to ask produce managers where the fruit is from and tell them they want fruit from the United States. She said pear growers along with other groups believe it is unfair that imports do not have to comply with the same regulations and standards as do growers. Hukari said she was encouraged by the passing of country-of-origin labeling for imports that was passed by the House of Representatives in early October. She said that bill has been introduced 31 times and never made it out of committee from the 99th through the 106th Congress. Hakari has been farming since 1983 and grows all the major varieties of pears. Most of her pears are sold to an independent packinghouse. She sees more growers in Hood River County removing pears and apples and putting in cherries. Growers in Hood River County are a variety of nationalities including German, Finnish and Japanese, according to Hakari. Hakari has been using mating disruption to control codling moth, done mostly out of necessity because of the mandated reentry times with organophosphates. She said some growers in Hood River County are trying direct marketing of their fruit through roadside marketing. A brochure with a designated Fruit Loop has been developed for the area for tourists such as visitors from nearby Portland. Castagnoli believes growers could benefit from the promotion of the health benefits of pears. “One of the problems with pears is that people don’t know how to ripen them,” he said. Pears don’t ripen on the trees and need three to seven days at room temperature to ripen. According to the Pear Bureau Northwest, pears help reduce the risk of cancer, help fight heart disease and are helpful for people with non-insulin diabetes. Pears are low fat, contain fiber and no cholesterol. Some studies show that Pectin contained in the fiber reduces serum cholesterol in the blood. Earlier this year Oregon pear growers formed a cooperative in an attempt to unite for more leverage to solve some of their economic woes. Currently 70% of available pear tonnage in Oregon is represented by the Mid-Columbia Pear Association, according to Ron Rivers, a Hood River pear grower and a member of the co-op’s board of directors. Rivers said the co-op was formed to foster better communication in hopes of better grower returns. Rivers said sales desks were undercutting each other to the detriment of growers. Rivers, who has been a pear grower for 31 years, said communication between regions and the sharing of information has been the greatest benefit of the cooperative thus far. “There’s not too many secrets now,” said Rivers, who grows 150 acres of pears. Packinghouses have been requiring larger fruit, a major change compared to when he started farming, according to Rivers. Today premium sizes of 70s, 80s and 90s (how many pears can be put in a box) are required. Rivers sells his pears to a large, independent packinghouse nearby. Grown at a 2,000-foot elevation, his pears are harvested beginning with Bartletts the last week of August until mid-October, with some down time in between. Pressure from offshore fruit started as a trickle 10 years ago, according to Rivers. “It’s not a level playing field,” said Rivers, regarding foreign competition. He says he sees a lack of allegiance from big chains about buying American.