The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Blueberry farm one of first in U.S. to use new e-harvesting technology
Machine picks berries with minimal lost crop and lowers labor costs.
EDISON — Two representatives from FineField Innovative Agri Solutions traveled here from the Netherlands to watch their blueberry harvesting technology at work on a farm in Calhoun County.
Tyler Adams, an Edison farmer, is one of the first farmers in the U.S. to use the Harvy500 to harvest his 13 acres of blueberries. His machine is just one of 39 that exist in the world — the 28th to be built. The Harvy500 is a new machine that is revolutionizing the way farmers harvest blueberries. It picks the berries with a result similar to handpicking, with minimal bruising and lost crop caused by older harvesters, but without the usual labor costs.
Marcel Beelen, CEO of FineField, said the company, which was founded in 2018, worked with blueberry farmers in the Netherlands who were facing issues with insufficient machines and high labor costs and low worker availability when it came to handpicking.
“They said, ‘If we don’t find a solution, we’ll be out of business,’” Beelen said.
So the company began developing a machine that could solve these issues. The first prototype was completed in 2019. By 2022, FineField had 17 machines. Now, in 2024, it is introducing the machine to blueberry farmers in the U.S. There are four machines in Georgia. Others are in Oregon, Australia, Israel and in multiple countries across southern Europe.
The machine is 100% autonomous once set up with a remote control. Steering tubes guide the machine through the rows of blueberry bushes where “shakers” rattle the berries off the bush, and brushes collect them at the bottom. The berries are then gathered in a bucket and released into containers on a rotating belt. A fan blows the sticks and leaves out. Farmers can adjust the speed of the machine as well as the intensity of the shaking, depending on the blueberry crop variety and how tightly the berries stick to the bush.
The Harvy500 also is electric, run by solar panels or by generator. Beelen said this is unique — he doesn’t know of any other harvesting machine that runs fully autonomous and without gasoline. With the solar panels, the machine can run all day by itself.
“We say now berries are not only grown by the sun but now harvested by the sun,” he said.
Currently, the Harvy500 is on the market for $400,000, but Beelen said it’s an investment when compared to labor costs with hand-pickers and product loss and damage with older harvesters.
Adams started growing blueberries in 2021. He is one of two farmers growing the crop in Calhoun County. He said Calhoun’s traditional row crop farming, like cotton and peanuts, was off-putting for him.
“You have to have so many acres and so much equipment to be able to get started, but with blueberries, you can take 10 to 20 acres and have a reasonable business with it,” he said.
Adams had about 70 workers handpicking his blueberries last season, which he said became too expensive and cumbersome to be viable. Rising labor costs are impacting farmers across the country as well as the Netherlands, Beelen said.
The USDA reports that input costs, including labor, fertilizer, machinery, etc., have increased by 28% since 2020.
Adams said farmers have to provide lodging for the workers as well as toilets and hand-washing on site. He said last year his workers who came to him through the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers program were also late in arriving, which could potentially affect production.
Adams also said he left about 8,000 pounds of fruit on the bush last year because he couldn’t get a crew to harvest it during the weekend when the berries were ready.
The Harvy500 means he doesn’t have to hire a crew of workers.
“This is a one-man operation,” Adams said. “With this, I can decide when I want to harvest and come out whenever I need to.”
He ordered the machine in October 2023. It shipped March 10 and arrived from the Netherlands on April 18. The machine came in pieces, and Adams said it took about three days to finish assembly and function checking.
He said not having to pay to get workers to his farm or for their lodging will save him thousands.
There’s a learning curve for farmers transitioning from handpicking to the Harvy500. That is why Beelen likes to travel to make contact with his customers. He completed 20 hours of travel from the Netherlands to Edison, Georgia. He also traveled to visit blueberry farmers in Israel recently, despite the ongoing tensions there.
“I want to know my customer and make sure that the machine is suited for them,” he said. “It’s a sophisticated machine and takes a different mindset.”
The Harvy500 runs data back to FineField operations in the Netherlands. Beelen said that allows the company to analyze the performance of the machine. When farmers have a problem they can call, and the FineField team is able to pinpoint the issue using a data reader.
“Our philosophy is that the one who is working the machine is the one who can sort the problem the quickest,” Beelen said. “If they have a standstill for half the day because they’re waiting on a technician, they could lose production.”
One part of the learning curve is knowing when the blueberries are ready to harvest by machine vs. handpicking.
Laina Gray, FineField’s U.S. operations manager, said each blueberry variety will be ready for harvest at different times. Farmers must look at the percentage of blue vs. green berries and how much of the fruit he wants to release. If the fruit is still holding on tight to the bush and is not wholly blue, it’s a good indicator to wait.
On Thursday, some of Adams’ Keecrisp variety were falling from the bush as he brushed past. However, there was still a good amount of green berries on the bush; so he decided it would be best to wait a few days to harvest.
Blueberries as a commercial crop are relatively new in southwest Georgia. For years, east Georgia has been the top producer on the East Coast of the U.S.
Calhoun County farmers began looking to diversify from their traditional row crops because of increasing production costs and lower commodity prices, causing the net farm income to decline in recent years, according to UGA Extension.
In 2018, Calhoun County UGA Extension began blueberry education programs for interested growers.
Blueberry production began in 2019; however, Luke Crosson, a county UGA Extension agent, said the county’s first real harvest took place last year.
Production didn’t take off until Pinebloom Farms in Newton installed its processing facility because farmers did not want to travel to east Georgia to process their berries.
“You would lose money just hauling them over there,” Crosson said.
He said growing blueberries is still a relatively small operation in Calhoun County, but growth is expected.
The county extension office will collaborate with Mitchell and Baker counties to conduct more interest meetings in the upcoming year.
The 2022 UGA Georgia Farm Gate Value Report reported 22 acres of blueberry farms in Calhoun County with a farm gate value of $423,500.
Adams said he hopes to eventually increase his acreage to 20.