Fruit growers say that abandoned orchards are on the rise in Oregon. The unpicked fruit and untended trees attract pests that can spread to neighboring orchards, increasing their management costs.
As reported in the Capital Press, Columbia Gorge Fruit Growers is working with the Oregon State University Extension Service and the Oregon Department of Agriculture to catalog abandoned orchards and find ways to address the issues they create.
Lesley Tamura is a fourth-generation pear grower and chair of the Columbia Gorge Fruit Growers. She joins us with more details about what’s behind the problem and the efforts to solve it…