Steve Louis – Packhouse Design

A late-summer orchard fire destroyed Oakwood Fruit Farm’s 2010 season. A silver lining, however, was that the time off allowed Steve to travel to other orchards during apple harvest, observing their practices and gathering ideas for the re-build of his packing facility. During this session, Steve shares what he learned, what they built and what improvements could still be made.

Steve Louis is the owner of Oakwood Fruit Farm in Richland Center, Wisconsin. He is the past president of Wisconsin Apple Growers Association, and holds a degree in horticulture from UW-Madison. Spanning 200 acres, the orchard has over 20 apple varieties on a mix of semi-dwarf and dwarf rootstocks.