WSU Smart Apple Orchard | Washington State University

Two rows of apple trees in the smart orchard, under a cloudy sky.

Steve Mantle, founder of innov8.ag, stands beside a sensor-equipped UTV used for precision agriculture.

Three blue New Holland specialty tractors equipped with autonomous driving hardware are parked in a gravel lot next to a blooming orchard under a bright, partly cloudy sky.

A group of people gathered around a blue tractor and a large agricultural implement under a white canopy at a field day event in WSU Smart Orchard.

An automated sprayer operates in the smart orchard, moving between rows of apple trees.

WSU Smart Apple Orchard

Automated precision orchard management technologies evaluation & grower education

Smart Agricultural Technologies

Irrigation & Heat Stress Automation

Validating soil-plant-atmospheric sensors data integration with automation control system for precise irrigation & heat stress management.

Crop Load Management

Validating multiple ground & aerial precision blossom mapping and crop load management solutions.

Autonomy, Precision Crop Protection, Nutrients & Weed Management

Optimizing autonomous/precision sprayers, nutrients applications and weed management solutions.

Mobile Applications

Real-time data and AI driven mobile applications for orchard management.

Testbeds & Partners

Keith Veselka, the Orchard Operations Manager at Northwest Farm Management LLC, standing next to a row of apple trees in a smart orchard.

An Innov8Ag employee mapping the bloom inside the orchard using a cartographer.

An employee of vivid machines performing blossom mapping on the smart orchard.

Grad students from WSU installing soil moisture probes.

An employee performing electric weeding on the smart orchard.

An employee of Wiseconn installing irrigation automation hardware in the smart orchard block.

Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission (WTFRC) funded WSU Smart Apple Orchard Testbed and Demonstration site is a pioneering initiative that synergies public-private partnerships to test, evaluate, & validate emerging smart agricultural technologies in a commercial setting, tied to the commission’s technology roadmap. WSU team is committed to providing comprehensive outreach and extension education through on-site field days, workshops, instructional videos, and fact sheets. Our goal is to disseminate knowledge and help realize meaningful adoption of the relevant innovative technologies in WA apple orchards.

Testbeds

Location: Moxee, WA (2026+)

This is an organic Honeycrisp (M106 rootstock) block, trained as a tall spindle (10 by 4 ft spacing), established by Moxee Valley Orchard LLC in 2011. The block is currently managed by a cooperator (Keith Veselka, NWFM, LLC). The block is irrigated using under tree sprinklers.

Location: Mattawa, WA. (2023 – 2026)

This is a Cosmic Crisp apple orchard block, trained as tall spindle at 12 ft by 3 ft spacing on M9/Nic29 rootstocks, managed by grower cooperator (Adams Zediker, Columbia Farm Services) in Mattawa, WA. Block is representative of many modern orchards in WA. First commercial harvest is planned for 2024 season. Block is drip irrigated and already have overhead fognet (fogging and netting) installed for heat stress mitigation.

Location: Zillah, WA. (2025)

This is an Envy apple orchard block, trained as a tall spindle at 10 ft by 4 ft spacing. The pertinent block is planted in 2021 on G41 rootstocks over 8.89 acres and is managed by a grower cooperator (Keith Veselka, NWFM, LLC.) in Zillah, WA. The block is drip irrigated and has under-tree and overhead cooling systems installed for frost and heat stress mitigation, respectively. Block represents most of the modern apple orchards in WA State.