Following an apple’s journey into the box

Kathy Davis

Communications Office

When you grab that pretty, shiny apple on the store shelf, you may not imagine the journey it’s taken to get there. In the packing house alone, apples travel a path that illustrates modern agricultural practices.

Apples aren’t just a Washington icon, like salmon, coffee and airplanes. They’re also a $2 billion industry producing millions of apples each year. Those apples all need to be harvested, sorted, packed and inspected.  

Last month I got an eye-opening education when I toured apple and potato packing facilities with Ken Tuttle, supervisor of WSDA’s Quincy Fruit and Vegetable Inspection office. As primarily a food consumer who’s relatively new to the agricultural industry, I was struck by the movement of the process.

From the large wooden bins in which the apples arrive in the warehouse, their first step is a bath. Each bin is lifted mechanically onto a skid that lowers it into a pool of water to wash the apples. With nose close, you can smell the chlorine (think swimming pool) that sanitizes.

Drifting and spinning

The water floats the fruit out of their field bins, becoming a river of apples drifting off on their way. They’re dried by spinning on soft, covered rollers and being heated in an enclosed metal container. 

Why are store apples so shiny? Because they’re sprayed with a fine mist of food grade wax.

They roll along, randomly splitting off onto three belts that run past workers who visually check for defective fruit. Along with experienced human eyes, technology helps sort. The apples are also whisked into a computerized machine where a camera and scale determines size and grade.

Placement onto trays and into boxes is largely, but not totally, automated. Humans help make sure each round fruit is properly positioned. Colorful shipping boxes are stacked into tall, wide blocks on pallets. Stacks await shipment to such destinations as Portland, Brooklyn and China.

Storing year-round

Apple harvesting occurs over a relatively short period, yet demand is year-round. So some of the crop is stored in a controlled environment to maintain freshness and allow for later packing.

These rooms look like over-sized racket ball courts with those big wooden bins of apples piled to the ceiling. Along with being chilled, the oxygen level is reduced in the room. Before workers enter, the atmosphere is adjusted to replace life-sustaining oxygen.

These packing facilities are daily working environments for our WSDA fruit and vegetable inspectors. For someone who resides in a cubicle most days, it was an eye-popping new world. 

Tips for hiring pest control professionals

Joel Kangiser

Pesticide Management Division

WSDA is getting reports that someone claiming to be a pest control professional is canvassing neighborhoods in Kitsap County, using high pressure sales tactics to sell pest treatments that could be unnecessary and asking for bank account information from the people he has contacted.

This person may represent a legitimate business; we don’t know. Here’s our advice -- don’t be pressured into buying a pest control service before you’re ready. Pests that can attack your home, such as carpenter ants and termites, are rarely a problem requiring immediate resolution. So you should have time to get other bids and do your own research.

Here are three tips from WSDA to consider before hiring a pest control professional:

• Thoroughly check out the person or business before providing any personal information or purchasing any service. 
• Get multiple estimates if you need pest control work done.
• Pest control companies and their employees who apply pesticides must be licensed by WSDA, so visit WSDA’s pesticide license database or call the WSDA licensing office at (360) 902-1937 to verify that a business or individual is properly licensed.

Finally, you can always call your local Better Business Bureau or the Washington State Pest Management Association, a private industry association, at 1- (800) 253-3836 to get more information about a particular company.

Pests can be a serious problem, but don’t let anyone  push you into paying for services or signing a contract before you are fully confident and comfortable with the company and the service they propose to provide.

Promoting Washington agriculture overseas

Hector Castro

Communications Office

In a small sandwich shop on a narrow Tokyo street, the cashiers and servers now sport T-shirts that say “I love Washington fries,” mementos of a recent afternoon when a few visitors dropped by to share some spuds with surprised customers expecting nothing more than a sandwich.

Gov. Jay Inslee hands out free fries in Tokyo.

The visitors included Gov. Jay Inslee, WSDA Director Derek Sandison, and members of the state’s Potato Commission, all in Tokyo as part of a 9-day trade mission that wrapped up Sept.5. The Governor-led trade mission made visits to Seoul, South Korea, Kobe, Japan and Tokyo. While other industries were also being promoted, the ag delegation focused on blueberries, potatoes, and wine.

Korea and Japan are important countries for Washington agriculture. Japan is the state’s leading market for agricultural exports and Korea the 5^th largest market. Led by Director Sandison, the ag delegates visited the leaders of several key businesses in both countries that import or process Washington agricultural products for local consumers, expressing their appreciation for the trade that is already taking place and interest in greater trade to come.

Again and again, delegates heard the value that consumers place on Washington agricultural products, from the cherries that fly off the shelves of the busy Costco Korea when they’re in season, to the chipping potatoes that can’t keep up with demand of Japanese potato chip processors. Delegates also gleaned information that can help inform marketing decisions later. 

Honey butter chips, a popular
Korean snackfood.

One example, consumers in Korea were recently in a frenzy for a potato chip company's  honey butter flavored chips, with lines for the chips so long, some stores placed two-bag limits on customers. The craze has increased demand for chipping potatoes as competing companies looked for their own flavor angle, and this boost in demand could spell benefits for Washington potatoes in the future. 

The team also met with government officials in both countries to raise market access issues. For blueberries, the goal was pressing for access to South Korea. Fresh Oregon blueberries were allowed into the country beginning in 2012, but Washington is still waiting for similar access.

Frozen blueberries, Costco Korea

In Japan, Washington potatoes are permitted only for part of the year. Washington potato farmers, as well as food processors in Japan, would like year-round access for our spuds.

Dancers at a reception for the
Washington State delegation

Government led trade missions can open doors for delegates that might not be available to them otherwise, providing them a chance to raise trade concerns at the highest levels. The trips also provide opportunities for potential buyers to meet producers and importers, making the kinds of connections that can translate into lucrative business relationships later.

Washington exports about 30 percent of its agricultural products, so keeping markets open and importers happy is important. Trade missions can be an important way to do this. You can track future trade missions, and visits from our overseas customers, at the WSDA International Marketing Program webpage, where all such events are listed. 

Washington prevails in “Fighting Hunger” food drive competition

Kim Eads

FoodAssistance Program manager

“Hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation” was again the theme of this year’s friendly competition between the Washington State Department of Agriculture and our Oregon Department of Agriculture counterparts.

The two departments together collected more than 190,000 pounds of donated food, easily surpassing the 85,000 pounds donated in 2014.

Northwest Farmers Fighting Hunger was developed three years ago as a partnership between the dairy industry, supermarkets, food banks and departments of agriculture in Washington and Oregon. The partnership increases awareness of the challenges families face when children who typically rely on school lunches are out of the classroom for the summer.

WSDA Director Derek Sandison, center, displays the food drive trophy. 

All foods donated to this drive benefit Washington and Oregon residents in need.

The WSDA Food Assistance Program thanks all our agency co-workers across the state who helped in this effort, and everyone who donated.

Grain inspection shifts to environmentally friendly testing

Kathy Davis

Communications

Our Grain Inspection Program is moving toward a grain testing method that does not use hazardous materials. If the pilot project using water-based testing kits shows consistent results, the new method will have benefits for the environment and worker safety.

Craig Hoyt testing grain at
WSDA Longview office. 

WSDA provides important services to Washington’s grain producers and exporters. For instance, foreign buyers require testing for mycotoxins as a contract requirement. Most of this testing has been done with kits that include methanol.

The presence of methanol makes the program a generator of hazardous material under state and federal regulations for storage and disposal. Methanol is flammable and can produce health effects in people exposed to it.

Piloting water-based testing

As the first step in transitioning away from chemical-based testing, the southwest regional grain office – which includes Vancouver, Longview and Kalama – is piloting water-based kits. Manager Philip Garcia said it’s important to conduct side-by-side comparisons for solid data showing consistent test results.

“We want to be sure our customer’s operations are not disrupted and the testing results are accurate and repeatable,” Garcia said.

Program managers anticipate several advantages to the new process. Virtually eliminating handling and disposing of a hazardous substance would be better for the environment and for program staff by reducing exposure.

Mycotoxins are created by molds that affect the quality of grains. Inspection services monitor for mycotoxins to assure that contaminated grain products do not enter the food supply chain.

Protecting the food supply, maintaining high quality customer service and being good environmental stewards are the goals of this project.