2008 WSU Tree Fruit Quality School - Drs. Eugene Kupferman and Chang-Lin Xiao will be hosting meetings in Wenatchee and Yakima to discuss Identification of Damage on Apples and Pears Caused by Insects and Diseases. The target audience for these meetings is quality control personnel, especially QC people on the packingline.

The Wenatchee meeting will be held Monday, May 5th from 11 am to 2 pm at the Confluence Technology Center (285 Technology Center Way, Wenatchee).

The Yakima meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 6th from 11 am to 2 pm.

Due to overwhelming response, the Yakima meeting has been re-located to the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center (1507 N. First Street , Yakima, Phone: (509) 248-7850).

The cost to attend either meeting is $30 per person, which includes catered lunch and a book of laminated photos and information about insect and disease identification. You are invited to bring fruit samples to stump the experts!

The Wenatchee location is full, and there are very few slots left in Yakima. Please call Gene Kupferman at 509-663-8181 x239 for availability prior to registering.

• Program

Superficial Skin Disorders Guide Available - This free illustrated guide is designed to help producers and packers distinguish between several commonly misidentified disorders including lenticel breakdown, blotch pit, heat injury, blister spot, and calcium burn. The guide was developed cooperatively by Drs. Eric Curry (USDA-ARS, Wenatchee), Larry Schrader (WSU-TFREC, Wenatchee), Elmi Loetze (Stellenbosh, South Africa), and Ines Hanrahan (WTFRC, Yakima). Laminated placards are available upon request from Dr. Hanrahan at ines.hanrahan@co.yakima.wa.us or (509) 669-0267.

Honeycrisp - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada recently published a bulletin for 'Honeycrisp': Harvest, conditioning and storage. Fruit maturity indices, color development, pre-storage treatment, optimal storage conditions and the occurrence of disorders in Atlantic Canadian 'Honeycrisp" are discussed.

Featured Articles--Sanitation

• Bin and Storage Room Sanitation by Peter L. Sholberg
• Chlorine Disinfectants and ORP Control by Douglas G. Kelley
• Use of Ozone in Storage and Packing Facilities by Joseph L. Smilanick
• Sanitizers for Citrus Packinghouse Recirculated Water Systems by Mark A. Ritenour, Steven A. Sargent and Jeffrey K. Brecht
• Wash Water Sanitation: How Do I Compare Different Systems? by Devon Zagory, Ph.D.
• Chemical Safety: What You Can Mix and What You Can't by Maurice Smith

Sign-up for the WSU-TFREC Postharvest Mailing List (or send a blank email to Chris Sater with the words "Subscribe Postharvest List" in the subject line).