Progress report for WPDP25-012
Project Information
Tree fruit crops are critical to US economy, with apples ranking first in consumption in the US, over 26,000 producers and 3.2 billion estimated in farm-gate revenue. Washington State is the largest apple and sweet cherry producer in the US, renowned for providing the nation, and much of the world with quality, nutritious fruit. The continued production of healthy, safe, tree fruit crops depend on the knowledge and timely actions of orchard managers and orchard workers, supported by industry professionals, consultants, Extension specialist. These critical management decisions are made increasingly complicated with changes in the nation's tree fruit economy, new cultivars/rootstocks, training systems, technology, evolving pest and disease pressures, climate change, pollination, etc. Unfortunately, to date, there is no place for tree fruit professionals to receive comprehensive, up-to-date training on fruit production technologies or techniques. This proposal by Washington State University faculty will build the structure, curriculum, content, and strategy for deploying a fee-based, continuing education, dual-language, certificate program in sustainable tree fruit production. This program will provide growers, orchard managers, allied industry professionals and Extension specialist, a world-class education in all aspects of sustainable fruit production, from planting to harvest. Based on listening sessions conducted in 2023 - 2024, we have developed a curriculum and educational content. This project will focus on the last step, which is to deploy a pilot of the Sustainable Tree Fruit Academy. Once launched, this certificate course in sustainable tree fruit production will become a self-supporting educational program to foster the continued and progressive development of the tree fruit industries that are critical to the US food security.
- Build/pilot a world-class educational program on sustainable fruit production for tree fruit professionals.
- Increase opportunities for professional development to farmers and industry professional in English and Spanish.
- Increase knowledge and adoption of sustainable tree fruit production practices.
The myriad decisions made daily by tree fruit growers have direct and significant consequences on the productivity, safety, and/or quality of the crops they grow. Tree fruit professionals need to be well informed, having the knowledge and know-how to efficiently and consistently produce fruit of high quality. Confidence in decision making comes from experience and a strong educational foundation in all aspects of sustainable tree fruit production. Understanding the fundamentals of tree biology, growth cycles, soils, nutrition, irrigation, etc. is essential in making sound orchard management and business decisions.
This project addresses the current lack of a coordinated, comprehensive, continuing education curriculum for professionals in the Washington tree fruit industries. We propose to implement a pilot of the certificate course in sustainable tree fruit production that will educate participants on all aspects of progressive fruit production systems, technologies, and techniques. Our target audience is current professionals (e.g., orchard managers, orchard employees, fruit company field representatives, Extension professionals) in the tree fruit industry. This proposal is in direct response to tree fruit growers interest in having a world-class, comprehensive, dual language, educational program for professionals in the tree fruit industries.
Similar initiatives have been funded by Western SARE. The resent project titled "Greenhouse IPM Scout School: Online and Hands-on Training for Current and Next Generation Scouts" by Dr. Lamb, provided useful information from students participating in a hybrid certificate program we have integrated in our certificate, for example that students that do not mind hybrid certificate programs, and they appreciate that the information is available online. In addition, we they indicate that 1.5 hour long modules were too long, thus our modules will be maximum 30 min long. In their study, students liked having assignments, quizzes, Q&A forums, and references, which will be integrated in our program.
In 2023, the Washington State Tree Fruit Association (WSTFA), Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and Washington State University (WSU) implemented start their Agricultural Leadership Program (ALP) course, a comprehensive bilingual training program designed to enhance leadership skills of farm supervisors and managers. This program has sold out every session (twice per year) and provide participants with tools to effectively manage emotional intelligence, communication, delegation, conflict resolution, and more. However, participants have expressed their interest in obtaining educational support on more practical/technical aspects of producing safe and healthy fruit.
Milestones, responsibilities and outcomes:
Milestone 1: Recruitment of a program coordinator (April 25 - May 25). Responsible: Sallato and Whiting. Outcome: A 50% FTE program coordinator.
Milestone 2: Finalize each core module and upload to Global Campus (finalized Dec 2025). Responsible: Program coordinator, Sallato, Whiting. Outcome: All core modules uploaded to Global Campus platform, syllabus for each module and for three fruit camps.
Milestone 3: Recruit pilot cohort (Finalized by October 2025). Responsible: Program Coordinator. Outcome: 25 professionals enrolled in the Pilot program: must include at least 2 Grower, 4 Farm/area manager, 2 Extension specialist and 3 Ag Educators (Community College), 4 Industry Consultants.
Milestone 4: Conduct pilot program. Responsible: Sallato and Whiting. Outcome: Participants having completed the program
Milestone 5: Conduct program evaluation. Responsible: Program Coordinator, Sallato and Whiting Outcome: Program evaluation and action items if needed.
Milestone 6: Launching the program. Responsible: Sallato and Whiting Outcome: 25 participants enrolled in Sustainable Tree Fruit Academy
Timeline as follows:
| Month (Start April 2025) | A | M | JU | JY | AU | S | O | N | D | JA | F | M | A | M | JU | JY | AU | S | O | N | D | JA | F | M | A |
| 1.Deploy a pilot of the program in 2025 - 2026 for 25 industry professionals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recruit program coordinator | X | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Finalize each core module and upload to Global Campus | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||
| Recruit pilot cohort | X | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conduct pilot Program | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||||||||
| 2. Evaluate the program | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conduct assessment | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make adjustment to the program as needed | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. Launching the program to US tree fruit professionals. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch the program to tree fruit professionals | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Education & Outreach Initiatives
To make farmers aware of the opportunity and solicit farmer input and feedback as we build the curriculum for the Tree Fruit Academy
Our approach is simple - advertise the upcoming Tree Fruit Academy and solicit feedback from farmers on the content that they prioritize as we continue to build the content. These conversations have been happening throughout the state at more than 10 different extension events and with groups ranging in size from hundreds to dozens.
The outcome from these conversations is the development of a curriculum that is on target with current and emerging needs for professionals in the tree fruit industry. We have made modifications to the curriculum to ensure its relevance. We also recognize the need to revisit these conversations, to continue soliciting feedback even after the Academy is up and running.