Future Orchards 2012 website profile

March 2007 | Future Orchards® 2012 program notes

The Future Orchards 2012 website was developed as an extension of APAL’s industry communication and as a central point for growers to access orchard performance information generated through the program. This profile explains how the online resource supported the project’s extension activities.

The website gave growers access to information from monitored orchard blocks and allowed blocks to be searched and compared using characteristics such as variety, rootstock, tree density, age and region. Production and profitability data helped turn orchard walks into an ongoing source of benchmark information rather than a one-off event.

The online component supported the broader Future Orchards goal of encouraging evidence-based decisions. Growers could look beyond individual examples and compare how different orchard systems were performing under commercial conditions.

This early website work laid foundations for the industry’s later use of OrchardNet® and other digital benchmarking tools. It demonstrates the program’s long-standing emphasis on making orchard data accessible and useful to growers.