Orchard to storage at Forrence Orchards
By John T. Ryan
Peru, NY, October 21, 2026 (NATIONAL APPLE DAY) – Apples are a big industry in our state and community. We value the industry, its people, and the beauty it brings to Peru.
During harvest season, anyone traveling on Peru’s highways sees what Forrence Orchards believes helps keep its fruit high quality and its business efficient: low-slung trailers pulled by modified Ford F-350 pickups.
Seth Forrence explained, “In the late 1960s, my grandfather, Roger Forrence, saw the trailers being used in Florida orange groves. He thought we could use them to get the fruit into controlled storage more quickly, especially fruit coming from the Stafford Farm on the Mannix Road.” Roger Forrence was correct. The system’s worked just as he imagined. Today, Forrence Orchards has six trailers picking up apples from its several orchards and taking them to cold storage on River Road and Route 22.
The Peru Gazette pieced together movie footage of the apples’ journey from the orchard to cold storage on Route 22. Orchard workers use a tractor-mounted forklift to place ten 800-pound crates on a pallet gently. F-350 drivers use two-way radios to learn when and where to pick up a load. On arrival, the F-350 driver lowers the trailer tray and backs it over the crate-laden skid. The tray lifts the crates off the skid, and the truck departs. The whole process takes no more than two minutes. At cold storage, the driver brings the trailer over a skid, lowers the crates onto the skid, and leaves for another run. Other forklift drivers transport crates into massive storage units.
The Peru Gazette recorded this video over two days, with several Forrence staff members involved. Bob Irwin drove me into the orchard, Alex Gayle brought the apples to the skid, and Desmond Jones drove the F350 onto the skid at the cold storage. I am a truly amateur videographer, so please excuse the video’s shortcomings.
Everyone at Forrence Orchards always cooperates with my story ideas. I can’t thank them enough! They treat their staff and guests like family!
Posted: October 21st, 2026 under Agricultural News, Business News, Faces of Peru, General News, Northern NY News, Peru News, Peru/Regional History.