Hi-tech answer for apple harvest
The severely constrained Hawke’s Bay apple harvest is getting a boost with the arrival of new picking platforms from Italy, which could double the volume of apples a worker could pick in a day.
A massive worker shortage, due to border restrictions that prevent labour from the Pacific Islands from entering the country, will force many growers to leave fruit to rot on the trees this year.
But some growers are turning to technology to get the job done.
Eight new $130,000 platforms hit the fields this month as T&G Global races to harvest an early ripening crop, after a warm and sunny growing season.
Head of operations Craig Betty said it was vital that the apples were picked within a two-week window of maturity, as otherwise the quality and the length of time they could be stored would be affected.
The platforms could carry four workers at a time and allowed less-experienced and less-fit pickers to harvest about six bins a day compared to two or three, he said.
The platforms came fitted with conveyor belts, which automatically filled bins at the back.
The platforms were filling a crucial labour gap and would primarily be put to work in its
46-hectare Ebbett Orchard in Hawke’s Bay, where the planting had been geared towards future automation, including robotic apple harvesting.
Tree architecture and apple placement needed to be compatible to make the fruit accessible.
Approximately 2300 trees are planted per hectare, with a 3-metre space between rows and 1.4m between trees, he said.
‘‘Picking apples is labourintensive work. It’s physically demanding, requiring strength and endurance,’’ Betty said. ‘‘These platforms enable fast, efficient and safe picking of apples, doubling the volume that can be picked each day.’’
T&G began using automated picking platforms three years ago and this new order brought its total to 11 in Hawke’s Bay, he said.
They moved down the row, lifting workers approximately 2.5m to do tree training, thinning, pruning and picking.
Each platform was fitted with a bin-carrying module, enabling it to load and unload full bins of apples within the row of trees.
T&G intended to raise more capital to buy more platforms for next season, Betty said.
‘‘They are certainly costeffective and as long as you maintain them, they’ll last. They are housed in implement sheds on orchards.’’
Rockit Global, another Hawke’s Bay apple grower, has five platforms in operation for the harvest.
General manager Chris Hurrey said the company had been using platforms for some time and had brought in eight this season, which were providing productivity gains.
The platforms were picking about 10 per cent of the crop and had enabled Rockit to use workers who wouldn’t have been successful using ladders.
‘‘They are very much filling a critical worker gap,’’ Hurrey said. ‘‘Longer term, our plan is to operate a much larger fleet. In a perfect world, the platform will replace the ladder. This investment will be in the millions.’’
Orchards needed to be planted in a way that suited the platforms and other future technology, he said.
‘‘These platforms enable fast, efficient and safe picking of apples.’’ Craig Betty Head of operations, T&G Global