APAL Future Orchards® National Orchard Talk, ‘Orchard data: average isn’t good enough’
How can you turn your orchard data into profitable decisions?
Join us on Thursday, 18 November for APAL’s Future Orchards National Orchard Talk, Orchard data: average isn’t good enough, to discover how the data you collect could help you make smarter, effective decisions in this critical time ahead of and during harvest.
This presentation from Nic Finger (Fruit Help) and Craig Hornblow (AgFirst) will drill down into best practice for orchard data.
Nic said that while many people are collecting some form of data regularly, they could be getting even more out of it.
“In the Orchard Talk, we’ll explore some challenges around collecting and using data for profit,” Nic said. “Summary data, such as averages, aren’t always the best way forward, to ensure consistency of outcomes from your dataset it is important to account for the variance within it. We’re going to discuss how to ensure you’re collecting good data, and more of it, then how to manage and make on-farm decisions with it.
“We’ll also talk a bit about the new tech that’s currently out there to make data collection more efficient and accurate. It’s early days, but they’re rapidly progressing and there are some clear benefits of adopting new technology.”
According to Nic, having accurate, comprehensive and well-managed data can help growers avoid costly errors and assumptions.
“In the fruit industry, small mistakes can cost a small fortune,” Nic said. “If you don’t predict how much fruit you have coming in and end up downgrading the quality of your fruit because you didn’t have enough pickers, the value of your crop per kilo drops significantly. There are quite dramatic costs if you do make miscalculations on incomplete data, or you followed a gut feeling that wasn’t quite right.
“Our presentation is all about using data to get a positive outcome and profit on the orchard. Accuracy in data is so important for making the right choices, from staff numbers to bins and cool storage. Collecting data on hand thinning and fruit sizing will help you judge where you’re going to land at harvest. Overall, you can use data to get better fruit quality and as a result, better fruit returns.”
The presentation will be followed by a live Q&A with Nic and Craig.
Register now on Eventbrite.
See the full November program here.
