Optimising harvest

February 2012 | Presented by AgFirst | Future Orchards® webinar

Optimising harvest means matching maturity, labour, picking systems and market requirements so fruit is collected at the right time and in the right condition. This February 2012 Future Orchards® webinar from AgFirst brings those decisions together as a harvest-management process.

The resource is aimed at helping orchard businesses plan harvest rather than react to it. Maturity monitoring identifies when fruit is ready for its intended market or storage program, while crop estimates and block priorities help allocate labour and equipment to the right areas at the right time.

Quality control remains central throughout the operation. Picker training, supervision, careful handling and well-managed bin movement reduce bruising and other defects that can erode packout. Productivity is important, but only when the fruit arriving at the packhouse still meets specification.

For managers, the webinar is most useful as a framework for integrating pre-harvest monitoring with labour planning and on-orchard quality control.