Calendar showcases local farm

“We chose policy holders for the calendar based on several factors, including location, their contributions to the industry and their commitment to worker safety,” she said.

SAIF is Oregon’s not-for-profit, state-chartered workers’ compensation insurance company. The corporation issues over half of these policies in the state.

Casler said slips, trips and falls are one of the leading causes of workplace injuries, so removing the need to use ladders in an orchard is “a great step toward safety.”

Dahle Orchards on Cherry Heights Road above The Dalles began planting cherry and pear trees closer together in 1990 to limit their height and make fruit more easily accessible to workers from the ground.

Today, about 80 percent of the Dahle family’s 500 acres in Wasco, Hood River and Marion counties are pedestrian trees, which can be harvested without ladders; with replacement of larger trees taking place as they age. Even taller trees on older grids have been pruned to only require use of a 10-foot ladder.

“The pedestrian orchard has become a new trend in fruit production but it’s an old practice for us,” said Tim Dahle, who produces 20 varieties of sweet cherries, three varieties of pears and hay.

He is a former high school ag teacher who left his career back east as an educator in 1979 to become a field hand on The Dalles orchard where he had worked while attending classes at Oregon State University.

He worked his way up to foreman before getting an opportunity to purchase his first piece of farm land, gradually increasing his holdings. Today, he and his wife, Colleen — they have a blended family of seven children — have 20 full-time employees and up to 190 seasonal workers.

The educator in Dahle, now 63, could see the labor efficiency of a pedestrian orchard or a fruiting wall, where trees are trained to resemble vines on a trellis with a depth of only two feet to expedite harvest.

“I really believe in this; I think it serves workers well because they can earn more, be more productive and work in a safer environment,” he said.

Currently, Dahle Orchards is involved in four trials of alternative growing methods with three different universities. Additional experiments will start soon with fruiting walls for both pears and cherries.

Dahle said SAIF officials contacted him last February about being featured in the 2017 calendar. They arranged a photo shoot that included some of his employees.

“It was fun for the crew to be involved,” he said.

Casler said the 2017 calendar will be distributed to about 50,000 policyholders, agents and other stakeholders to celebrate the more than 300,000 Oregonians who work jobs supported directly or indirectly by agriculture.