It's just about springtime, and big, juicy strawberries are bursting onto the scene from Florida, California and Mexico as North America gears up for peak berry season.
But, as retailers stock their shelves with luscious berries and imagine the sales they'll attract, growers are stretching their imaginations — and budgets — to come up with ways to keep their product profitable and maintain value for consumers.
Growers say a tight labor market, unclear immigration policy, rising production costs and an ever-increasing minimum wage are making it difficult to continue to offer a quality product at an appealing price.
One possible solution? Mechanization.
In Florida, Plant City-based Harvest CROO Robotics announced in December that it received a major grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support developing its robotic strawberry picker. In Oxnard, Calif., Spain-based Agrobot (see left) is pursuing implementation of its robotic strawberry harvesting system.
Eight seconds
CROO created a strawberry picker prototype three years ago that can identify, select and pick ripe strawberries and leave unripe berries and plants unharmed, says Gary Wishnatzki, co-founder of CROO — short for Computerized Robotic Optimized Obtainer — and owner of Wish Farms.
The technology will improve berry quality, reduce energy use and increase strawberry yields by at least 10%, he says. Last season, the picking rate for the prototype was eight seconds per plant. This year, the goal is to cut that rate in half.
CROO's goal is to develop a fully autonomous strawberry picking platform, Wishnatzki says. During the coming year, Harvest CROO Robotics will develop software and hardware tools “to orchestrate a team of robotic subsystems,” Wishnatzki says.
The NSF grant will allow the company to hire additional staff.
“Our goal is to meet the speed and cost requirements of a commercially viable robotic strawberry harvester,” he says.
Adaptable
The custom-made vehicle is built on the chassis of a Colby mobile harvesting aid already used in many strawberry fields. One notable feature:
“We're the only ones developing a machine that doesn't require growers to radically change how they grow strawberries,” Wishnatzki says. The harvester can pick eight acres a day and replace more than 30 workers, he says.
He termed the project a “very collaborative effort.” More than 20% of the U.S. strawberry industry is involved. That includes companies like Naturipe Farms and California Giant. Wishnatzki says alpha and beta testing will be conducted during the next couple of years, and he expects the harvester to be available commercially within three years.
Users won't have to make a capital investment, he says. Instead, they'll pay a piece rate, just as they do now. CROO even will provide support staff. “(Growers) won't have to worry about keeping the machines running,” he says.
Agrobots assemble
Like CROO, Agrobot promises to bring speed and agility to harvest operations because it “analyzes your fruit one by one.” The 14-arm machine developed by Juan Bravo manages a set of robotic manipulators that, according to the company's website, can locate and identify strawberries and select them based on their size and degree of ripeness.
Once picked, berries move by conveyor to a packing area.
“The California Strawberry Commission has made innovation a strategic initiative,” says Carolyn O'Donnell, the commission's communications director. The commission is looking into both the Agrobot and Harvest CROO Robotics technologies, among others.
Kenneth Parker, executive director of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association, says mechanical harvesters can play an important role in securing a reliable harvesting workforce.
“As the number of workers continues to decline, a mechanical harvester will certainly improve the producer's ability to continue supplying fresh strawberries to the consumer,” he says.
Cultivating innovation
Although strawberries are notorious for their backbreaking harvest, they're not the only target for technology. That's where Western Growers is stepping in. The organization established a new Center for Innovation and Technology in Salinas, Calif., in late 2015.
The 2,800-square-foot “technology incubator” housed at the Taylor Farms headquarters brings together innovative entrepreneurs and farmers to develop creative solutions to the biggest challenges facing agriculture, says Hank Giclas, senior vice president, strategic planning, science and technology for Irvine, Calif.-based Western Growers.
“We are proud of the achievements we, and our startups, have accomplished thus far and have found our footing to create a solid foundation for the center,” Giclas says.
The center, which had six agricultural technology startup companies when it opened, now has 27 residents. It provides tenants with access to top-of-the-line amenities, facilities and services, including Wi-Fi and a conference room that can accommodate up to 20 people. It was created to help identify industry priorities, discover technologies to address those priorities, set up testing, facilitate industry feedback and communicate progress to California, Arizona and Colorado fresh produce farmers, Western Growers says.
The center had an eventful first year that included:
- Launching what may be the first scholarship program of its kind that provides scholarship winners with residence at one of the ag tech incubators designed to assist startup companies that are developing agricultural technologies;
- Developing an initiative with Trace Genomics, one of the center's residents, to launch a Soil Microbial Health Initiative;
- Creating a partnership with SWIIM, another center resident, to help farmers conserve water and earn money for water that they do not consume; and
- Crafting a program of regular classes and workshops to help startups bring their technology from development to production.
In just one year, the center has “transformed into a hub of collaboration and innovation,” Giclas says.
The center receives financial support from 17 sponsors. Those sponsors include Taylor Farms, Bayer CropScience, Farm Credit, JV Smith Cos., Monsanto, Prophet North America, Toro Micro-Irrigation, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.