September 2020 - 7

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Taste and quality keep customers loyal
You would expect Tom Schwartz, a veteran of
South Central Illinois who's been growing fruit in
these parts since the early 1970s, to know a thing
or two about how to get the most out of a fruit
crop - particularly as much of what he grows
is sold direct to the public from his orchards in
Centralia and Mount Vernon.
" When you're looking the buyer in the eye, you
have more of an interest than ever in the quality
of what you're selling, " he says. " You've got to
keep your customers happy, if you're going to
keep them coming back.
" People will remember the quality more than the
price. And it's human nature that an unhappy
customer will tell more people about a bad
experience than they would about a great
experience, " he points out.
" You can't afford to muck about with quality.
Together with yield, it should be front of mind for
anyone claiming to be a fruit grower. "
Trying to keep on top of the quality issue isn't
easy, he says. " Weather is changing. We've seen
annual rainfall of up to 50 inches in the last few
years, against a long-term average of up to 40
inches. That brings problems with trees and
fruit of all sorts - keeping them free from rot -
but when you've made a commitment to grow,
you've got no choice but to keep on top of it.
" You're either in this business or you're not. "
A grower like Tom doesn't stay at the top of his
league by standing still. It's a demonstration of
his commitment to always strive to get the best
from his apple orchards and strawberry fields
that he's always looking for opportunities to
improve yield and quality, so when he got wind of
a new product coming to the U.S. market, based
on research conducted by a team of British
scientists, he was naturally curious.
Any fruit grower recognizes the importance of
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managing calcium levels. Calcium deficiency
lies behind two major apple disorders, blossom
end rot and bitter pit, while calcium shortages
in a strawberry crop produce soft, squashy
fruit with little shelf life. Poor shelf life is also
associated with calcium deficiency in peaches,
together with lack of flavor.
Growers will also know the difficulty in trying
to deliver sufficient calcium to the crop, at the
right time. Trying to 'top-up' calcium levels in
the strawberry plant close to harvest often
won't have the expected effects, either on
fruit firmness or post-harvest molding.
Tom's attention was captured by news that a
technology developed by British agritech firm
Levity CropScience was now available to U.S.
growers. Dubbed a 'smart' fertilizer, it 'directs'
the plant to use calcium more effectively.
By emulating the plant hormone auxin,
researchers were able to create a specific
calcium transport stimulant that avoided the
problems growers traditionally experienced
with typical calcium products.
When put through its paces in field trials, more
than two-thirds of the fruit from treated plants
was deemed of marketable quality, compared
to less than half of the fruit from plants treated
with standard calcium.
Mike Williams, CEO of California-based specialty
crop input manufacturer OMEX®
has incorporated this technology - known
as LoCal - into several of the company's
formulated products.
" As an industry, we're under an obligation to
find ways of getting more from less, " says Mike.
" We need to make all our inputs work harder -
increasing yield while reducing waste.
" The LoCal technology that we're putting into
products like Cell Power®
a product that Tom has brought into his
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Calcium Platinum,
Agrifluids USA,
agronomy program for the first time this year,
achieves just that.
" Because it's a more efficient form of delivery, it
actually reduces the overall amount of calcium
used by the grower. Not only that, but in
producing more marketable fruit we're helping
to reduce food waste overall, and all the wasted
resources associated with growing food that's
not going to be eaten. "
Tom concedes that he's not conducting full,
replicated trials using controls. " We started
using Cell Power®
year, alongside SizeN®
mechanism for nitrogen.
" SizeN®
Calcium Platinum only this
, a similar 'smart' delivery
definitely seems to have increased the
number of flowers over our previous nitrogen
treatment. It's based on a different type of
nitrogen - stabilized amine - which favors
flowers over leaves.
" What's been particularly noticeable is how it's
delivered more sets: eight or nine through the
season, while yields have been phenomenal, "
Tom enthuses, " up 30 percent, with really firm,
flavorsome fruit that I'm sure will keep our
customers coming back. "
Tom says it's this attention to detail - and
always being open to new ideas, products
and practices - that keeps customers loyal to
Schwartz Orchard.
" Anyone can plant a fruit tree and start selling
fruit, but to be a grower worthy of the name
it's being able to make the difference over the
last ten per cent. People will remember the
quality and that's what brings them back. "
Learn more at www.omexusa.com.
The product names and brands referenced
here are registered and trademarks of OMEX®
Agrifluids, Inc. © OMEX®
Agrifluids, Inc. 2020.
Email omexusa@omex.com
FGN | SEPTEMBER 2020 | 7
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September 2020

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