01/02/09 Mechanizing Orchard Tasks

Mechanizing Orchard Tasks. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. What does a neurosurgeon have to do with picking tree fruit? Vince Bryan with Picker Technologies has been a fruit grower in Washington State for 27 years as well as a Seattle neurosurgeon. He has since directed his attention to the fruit industry. BRYAN: New technologies and materials can now more readily address the high degree of variability in size, shape and sensitivity and location of tree fruit requirements. Immigration issues have made hand labor less available, becoming non-competitive in price and subject to high Labor and Industries insurance costs. According to Bryan there are a number of issues that must be solved before mechanization can work in the orchard. BRYAN: Specialty crop multitasking machines, especially those focused at harvesting and pruning which are costly as we all know, if they can be designed and manufactured so as to be affordable, safe and reliable machine suitable for delicate and perishable fruit must address these circumstances to be successful. Bryan has paid attention to the process of picking fruit and used that information for his work. BRYAN: I nonetheless have been impressed by the inefficiencies of the centuries old fruit picking process. In field conditions result in actual picking time often being only 30% or less of the pickers' total time with worsening efficiency as fatigue becomes a factor. More on Monday. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.