A harvesting innovation introduced by Queensland strawberry producer Piñata Farms has reaped rewards despite a challenging season.
General manager Roger Turner said AgPick, a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) hand-held harvesting system developed and manufactured by Adelaide's Agricultural Picking Technology, was introduced to support the company's decision to manage most of its own seasonal strawberry pickers this year.
"In the strawberry industry, pickers are paid by the tray,” Turner said.
“We had to look for a way to efficiently and accurately record the number of trays picked in the field and match them to the right picker. During the season's peak, some 12,000 trays a day were picked."
AgPick meant trays were scanned in the field during harvest with the data uploaded via a live feed, he said.
Technology benefits stack up
Turner said there had been several side benefits.
"The live feed from the paddock tells us which blocks have been picked, how many trays have been picked, and who picked them," he said.
"That's important information used to analyse and review the season and plan for the next."
Previously, a labour hire company recorded tray numbers, manually or digitally, and provided when harvested fruit arrived at the packhouse.
Two people are required to operate the AgPick scanners in the field, following minimal training.
"A SIM card in the scanning handset uploads the data via mobile phone technology to the cloud, providing instant access from any location,” Turner said.
"Given the enormity of managing our own labour during strawberry season, the system's impact has been significant."
Agricultural Picking Technology chief executive officer Henrietta Child said the combination of RFID technology and payroll integration provides operators with far more information than they are used to.
