Orchard Systems Matter With Mechanization
May 29, 2016 “It takes years to turn orchards from a big, wild 3-D tree to a narrow canopy — a lot of money and effort,” Karen Lewis, tree fruit regional specialist with Washington State University Extension says.
Rod Farrow of Fish Creek Orchard in Waterport, NY, says it can take a grower up to 20 years to flip an orchard to be ready to integrate mechanization. That’s why Lewis says the ideal system for mechanization is planned from the start, with hand thinning to set the canopy properly.
Adding the cost of upgrading an orchard to a higher-density to facilitate mechanization, growers shouldn’t take the leap lightly. Before involving your staff, and before purchasing your equipment, your orchard system should be narrow and uniform.
The more complicated the training system, the harder it will be for your labor, says Mario Miranda Sazo, fruit Extension specialist for Cornell Cooperative Extension, Lake Ontario Fruit Program.
“Before you buy the new technology, you need to have the right variety and rootstock, right planting density, and the right tree architecture,” he says. “If you don’t have that, you are not going to be able to run the machines as efficiently as you could with people.”
Farrow told growers at the 2016 International Fruit Tree Association conference if their tree spacing is wider than three feet apart, it will be obsolete in five years. Although that sounds extreme, growers must prepare their orchards, and then add equipment, instead of the other way around.
“Maximize what you’re currently doing, then you’ll be able to add equipment,” he says. “When you add equipment, know what it’s doing to productivity, and know if it’s making you money.”
Mark Hermenet of Hermenet Fruit Farm in Williamson, NY, seconds the notion. “Uniformity of your orchard is very important — how well you can balance these machines and their efficiencies with the people you have,” he says. “You can’t buy mechanization for every orchard that’s out there. It has to be a long-term vision in order to make this work.”
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