A letter from Greg Lang, IFTA Education Director

As the IFTA nears its 70^th anniversary, we will be undertaking an intensive, value-packed study tour to Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Italy this November, culminating in Interpoma 2026, the world’s Olympic-level apple industry showcase. Meeting up in Zurich, there will be parallel opportunities to visit innovative orchards and technologies while accompanying persons immerse themselves in regional cultures, foods, nature and history.

This IFTA-in-the-Alps tour will spend several days around Lake Constance (Bodensee) visiting Swiss and German pome and stone fruit growers, as well as Germany’s cutting-edge KOB Research Centre focused on this diverse fruit-growing region (apples, cherries, pears, peaches, plums, apricots). A quick traverse through the Austrian Alps will bring us to Italy’s South Tyrol, with the stunning Dolomite mountains and valleys of apples as far as the eye can see. We will visit local orchards around Bolzano as well as the Laimburg Research Centre’s development and testing of innovative fruit production, breeding, and packing advances (several Laimburg scientists have spoken at recent IFTA annual conferences). A full day will be spent at Interpoma, with options to attend the half-day Congress on New Approaches in Spraying Technology or just wander the extensive exhibits of state-of-the-art orchard and packing equipment, precision technologies, trellises/covers/nets, robotics, orchard agrivoltaics, drones, etc.

With the chance to see production of tree fruits of every kind, talk with leading growers about their unique challenges and new technology adoption experiences, plus see what the future may hold as researchers innovate and commercial orchard applications develop, it is no wonder that IFTA members have been looking forward to this Interpoma sequel ever since our 2022 visit which focused solely on Italy! Get those passports ready!

~ Greg Lang

IFTA Education Director