This week, the cherry harvest began at Royal Ridge Fruits in Washington. Incentive and piece-rate payment systems are in place for all crops in the United States.
Incredible - the PET-Tiger electronic token on the phone, or visual token on the eye, or printed token - the latest innovation for your workforce management needs! The PET electronic token system provides employees working on piece-rate with a tangible and real-time record of their piece count, revolutionizing traditional methods like physical tokens or punch cards.
From humble beginnings in 1962, with a few acres of prairie in central Washington, the Dorsing family has grown to become one of the largest cherry growers in the western United States. Today, Dorsing Farms continues to thrive in Washington's fertile Columbia Basin. Under third-generation family management, the farm has expanded to over 2,500 acres of conventional and certified organic sweet cherries, blueberries, raspberries, tree fruits, and other crops.
Agricultural labor contractors, growers, and traders share real-time data, enabling operations to maximize labor efficiency. PET-Tiger allows personalized payment calculations for individual workers and teams with multiple payment systems, improving employee management and incentives.
Field and office managers receive special real-time mapping notifications on production by variety and packaging style, as well as efficiency reports for harvesting and packing. The versatility of PET-Tiger allows customization and localization for any crop, geographical area, payroll system, wage order, legal compliance, operational policies, piece-rate, and bonus calculations.
The tetraploid rootstock known as "Aijie" is characterised by its breakage in mid-March, blossoming in early April, and leaf shedding in November. The results of the tests indicated that “Aijie” induced higher growth rates compared to Gisela 6, three years post-planting.
Proper temperature management is a key factor for quality. Low temperatures (0ºC) and high humidity (90-95%) allow good quality for at least 2 weeks. However, with temperatures between 4º-6ºC this duration is reduced to 4-8 days.
Cherry Times Magazine 2026 explores innovation, sustainability and cherry markets in its fourth edition. Presented at Fruit Attraction in Madrid, it looks ahead to Fruit Logistica 2027 in Berlin, examining the challenges and future of cherry production around the world.
A study in a commercial cherry orchard in Turkey shows that variable-rate irrigation, supported by satellite imagery and soil moisture monitoring, can cut irrigation water use by up to 49% while maintaining marketable yields and fruit quality, even in very hot weather.