Thread: New systems help raisin growers with harvest

New systems help raisin growers with harvest

Posted at 09:05 PM on Friday, May. 27, 2011
By Robert Rodriguez / The Fresno Bee

California raisin growers are increasingly using machines to harvest their crop as farmers look for ways to boost production and reduce the need for hand labor.

A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report found that from 2009 to 2010, the number of raisin acres where grapes are harvested with machines instead of hand labor grew by nearly 4%.

One of the mechanical systems is known as an overhead trellis. It uses a series of wires to support the ripening grape bunches. Skilled workers carefully cut the vines from the base, allowing the grapes to dry above the ground. Once the grapes turn to raisins, a mechanical harvester is used to collect the fruit.

"It is the raisin of the future," said Rick Stark, Sun-Maid's grower relations manager.

Statewide, the trellis system is used on about 19,378 acres. That represents 9.5% of the total raisin grapes being farmed in the state.

Raisin industry officials say growers can increase their production and take the uncertainty out of finding enough workers for the annual harvest. Every summer, about 20,000 to 30,000 workers are needed to cut the grape bunches and lay them onto paper trays to dry in the sun.

But in some years, competing harvests can make finding workers problematic. And fewer workers are needed to harvest raisins by machine.

University of California farm adviser Steve Vasquez said the dried-on-the-vine methods can produce four to seven tons of grapes an acre, compared to two tons an acre for conventionally grown raisins grapes.

And producing lots of raisins matters to growers, now more than ever. Last year, raisin farmers received $1,500 a ton – the highest prices in more than 20 years.

Easton farmer Ray Jacobsen installed a trellis system on 110 acres of raisin grapes several years ago. And he has no regrets.

"There is no question that we are getting better production," Jacobsen said. "And while some people are still looking for labor, we are waiting for our grapes to dry."

Trellis systems are not cheap. Installing a system can cost up to $10,000 an acre. But growers also have other options, including a system called a continuous tray.

That method involves severing the canes near the top of the plant, where they dangle on a series of wires. After about a week, a harvesting machine gently shakes the nearly dried grapes off the canes and onto a quarter-mile-long sheet of paper placed between the vineyard's rows to dry in the sun.

"The whole system of how we grow raisins is changing," Vasquez said. "These guys are going to drip irrigation and mechanical systems for harvesting as a way to stay ahead."

The reporter can be reached at brodriguez@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6327.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/05/27/240 ... owers.html

California raisin growers are increasingly using machines to harvest their crop as farmers look for ways to boost production and reduce the need for hand labor

American innovation and technology moving forward. That is the better way and has been hampered by CHEAP LABORERS for too many years now. Congratulations!

For years now,that is what they have been trying to tell these guys. That cheap labor actually impedes the creation of new machinery for harvesting food products or even producing it.