Final report for FNC24-1410
Project Information
This is an individual proposal, designed and to be executed by Jim Eckert. My family has been commercially growing tree and small fruits for over a century. Our fruit acreage is currently around 400 acres, with locations in St. Clair and Jersey counties in Illinois, and also Woodford County Kentucky. I had primary responsibility for our apple, peach, strawberry, pumpkin, blackberry and Christmas tree production for 40 years. My educational background includes a BS and JD from the University of Illinois and a MS in horticulture from Michigan State.
Peach growing systems and peach productivity have been stagnant in Illinois. Labor costs in peach are high, and prices received have not kept pace. The industry is small, with minimal in-state extension and research support. Agronomy is king here. Projects of this nature will never happen n Illinois without private effort. Year Two update--My objective was to establish all vertical leaders of roughly the same diameter in two seasons; then rootstock and in row spacings would be observed to find the best combination that would meet the goal.In spring of 2025,I removed every other tree in the four foot tree spacing to see if I could meet the vertical numbers with less nursery stock.Results? I obtained 95% fill of the vertical shoots at the 6 foot in-row space across all rootstocks. With 8 foot spacings, I could not fill the the vertical shoots (every 24 inches), and uniformity was a bigger problem. Over time, the rootstock effects on vigor will likely be more pronounced; a grower would weigh the plus of high vigor in the establishment phase, versus the negatives of mature high vigor, which include excessive pruning costs and loss of fruit qu. Add in the factors of soil quality and irrigation, and it becomes impossible for one answer for all situations. To fully evaluate yield, quality, tree health etc. is a 10 year project The first crop is summer 2026.
150 peach trees will be planted at in-row spacings of 4-5-6 feet, with a 12 feet alley width for machinery and harvesting operations. All peach trees are grafted on rootstocks; I will use Controller 6, Lovell, and Krymsk 86, each having a different level of vigor. Standard commercial varieties will be used. A three-wire trellis will be constructed, which serves as both a training aid and support for fruit loads. Trees will be trained in a two-dimensional configuration along the wires. Each planted tree will have from 4-6 vertical permanent leaders spaced at two-feet intervals along the wire, each having the capacity to hold 26-28 fruits. On an acre basis, there would be 1800 leaders, giving a crop potential of 500 bushels per acre. The attached image shows the design .Using summer and dormant pruning, the canopy width is held to 4-5 feet. What problems are potentially solved? We can get more bushels (500?) of of more highly colored and flavorful fruit by increased exposure to the sun. The narrow canopy increases this exposure, which can also increase flowering of peach. Tree height can be more easily controlled with dwarfing rootstocks and multiple leaders on each tree planted. Height reduction in tree fruit always results in less ladder work and smaller, lower horsepower machinery use. The labor requirements for pruning, fruit thinning, and harvesting, the "big three" in labor, are all reduced in shorter trees with thinner canopies..Clearly, all the project objectives cannot be reached in two years. What we can achieve in two years is the ability to create a two-dimensional canopy and evaluate the rootstocks and tree spacings. The" right" combination of rootstock and tree spacing can be elusive. The last objective is to have good detail on establishment cost. Currently, peaches are being planted at wider spacings without trellis support.
Research
Two dimensional canopies have been researched in other tree fruits, with sweet cherry in Washington having been commercially adapted. I took the idea from Greg Lang's work at Michigan State. A support system was necessary; our prior experience in apple gave us a heads-up in materials, machinery and methods needed in trellis construction. Labor reduction is the big deal in many specialty crops; it is the prime driver of this project.
2024 progress:
- Planted 150 peach trees.
- Created trellis system using 50 twelve foot posts, 5000 feet of 12.5 gauge monofilament wire, and 50 medium gripples, as well as 12,000 feet of poly twine to create the vertical drop from top wire every two linear feet.
- Pruned trees, training shoots to vertical position (4-5 trips through the planting per year) Year two update--I eliminated the twine drops and went to six foot bamboo, which gave more stability and greater ease of attaching shoots to bamboo using a Max Tapener.
150 peach trees were planted at in-row spacings of 4-5-6 feet, with a 12 feet alley width for machinery and harvesting operations. All peach trees are grafted on rootstocks; I used Controller 6, Lovell, and Krymsk 86, each having a different level of vigor. Standard commercial varieties were used. A three-wire trellis was be constructed, which serves as both a training aid and support for fruit loads. Trees were be trained in a two-dimensional configuration along the wires. Each planted tree will have from 4-6 vertical permanent leaders spaced at two-feet intervals along the wire, each having the capacity to hold 26-28 fruits. On an acre basis, there would be 1800 leaders, giving a crop potential of 500 bushels per acre. Using summer and dormant pruning, the canopy width was held to 4-5 feet.
Peach growing systems and peach productivity have been stagnant in Illinois. Labor costs in peach are high, and prices received have not kept pace. The industry is small, with minimal in-state extension and research support. Agronomy is king here. Projects of this nature will never happen n Illinois without private effort. Year Two update--My objective was to establish all vertical leaders of roughly the same diameter in two seasons; then rootstock and in row spacings would be observed to find the best combination that would meet the goal.In spring of 2025,I removed every other tree in the four foot tree spacing to see if I could meet the vertical numbers with less nursery stock.Results? I obtained 95% fill of the vertical shoots at the 6 foot in-row space across all rootstocks. With 8 foot spacings, I could not fill the the vertical shoots (every 24 inches), and uniformity was a bigger problem. Over time, the rootstock effects on vigor will likely be more pronounced; a grower would weigh the plus of high vigor in the establishment phase, versus the negatives of mature high vigor, which include excessive pruning costs and loss of fruit qu. Add in the factors of soil quality and irrigation, and it becomes impossible for one answer for all situations. To fully evaluate yield, quality, tree health etc. is a 10 year project The first crop is summer 2026.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation summary:
Peach begins economic fruiting the third year in the field, so yield results are not available. I plan to appear at the U of Illinois Extension fruit meetings in February 2026, and will solicit interested people to attend a June 2025 twilight tour. A High Density Peach Field Day was held August 20,2025 onsite. presenters were Cate Loomis-SARE coordinator-Dr.Greg Lang of Michigan State, and Dr. Brent Arnoldussen of U. of Kentucky. An orchard tour and demonstration were held.