Crop load optimisation, chemical thinning and biennial bearing

September 2016 | Presented by Steve Spark and Jonathan Brookes, AgFirst | Future Orchards® presentation

Steve Spark and Jonathan Brookes describe crop-load optimisation as one of the key drivers of orchard success. Their approach treats every variety and block as an individual unit with its own maximum yield potential, fruit-size and quality requirements, variability and biennial-bearing risk.

The presentation links crop load directly with labour efficiency. Reducing tree-to-tree variability can make pruning, thinning and harvesting simpler and faster, improve the pool of workers able to perform the job, reduce costs and improve fruit quality. Both over-cropping and under-cropping are shown as risks to quality.

Crop-load optimisation is presented as a continuous system: set an initial crop-load plan, prune to that plan, use chemical thinning, complete hand thinning where required and collect data throughout the process so targets can be adjusted. A thinning-plan recording sheet captures theoretical yield, canopy development, seasonal yield goal, biennial status, vigour and fruit-count targets.

The resource is useful for growers wanting to connect crop-load decisions with fruit quality, labour efficiency and more consistent block performance rather than treating thinning as a stand-alone operation.