Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/283151
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER APRIL 1, 2014 29 have to carry heavy bags and it was actually easier to see the fruit under the LED lights. Night is an ideal time for picking, Armock said, and he feels that's one of the real advantages of the harvest- ing system. Going forward, he'd like to run the machine 24 hours a day to spread the machine cost over a greater amount of production. After using the DBR for the full season, Armock con- cluded that it is most effi cient in tight, tall plantings that have a full canopy. He used the equipment only to pick the tops of the trees. Because the trees have thin cano- pies, workers could pick the entire tops of the trees from one side, so the machine only went down every other row. Pickers on the ground picked the low fruit fi rst, so the machine made no contact with low-hanging apples. Armock said he was pleasantly surprised by the increase in productivity, particularly considering that some of the blocks were older and not designed for that type of technology. He used the machine on nine different varieties throughout the season on all types of orchard structures and had 8 percent less bruising than when pickers were using ladders. His goal was that workers on the machine would be at least as effi cient as they would be on a ladder. In fact, members of one crew were able to double their produc- tivity, averaging 2.1 bins per hour on the machine versus 1.1 bins per hour on ladders. "We were pretty ecstatic about what our costs were per bin using this system," Armock said. The differing speeds at which people work was not a problem because the crew takes care of workers who are slower than the rest, he said. "They'll fi gure it out. They're all fi ghting to make as much money as they can. The cousin who can't keep up—he's off." Stemilt Whitman said most of the Quincy orchard is trained to a vertical system on a 3- by 12-foot spacing. About 70 percent of the fruit can be picked from the ground, so it was a challenge to fi nd a speed for the platform that didn't result in the pickers on the ground lagging behind Stemilt hopes for a 20 to 30 percent increase in harvesting effi ciency with the Van Doren Sales/Littau machine. After harvest, the harvesting components can be removed so the platform can be used for other tasks, such as pruning. Fortunately, so are our crop insurance agents. Like everyone else at Northwest Farm Credit Services, our crop insurance agents live and breathe agriculture. They're immersed in it every day. That's a tremendous advantage when you consider the nature of complex, ever-changing insurance programs. Fact is, risks abound – from adverse weather to a drop in market prices – and you need an insurance partner with expertise, knowledge and commitment, every step of the way. Give us a call today. Your only risk is waiting. nor thwestfcs.com | 800.743.2125 THE ARE GREAT PERILS Jim Holt Senior Insurance Agent This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer. "We want to get more done with the same amount of people." —Mike Van Pelt PHOTO BY GERALDINE WARNER