What's Shakin' Archive

July 15, 2009

The 2009 Citrus Mechanical Harvesting Field Day and Workshop was a great success. More than 90 people attended. Canopy shakers and the sprayer being used for IFAS abscission field trials were featured during the “field” portion of the day. The “workshop” program addressed processor concerns including harvest debris. If you are interested in seeing the Powerpoint presentations or video of the field day, please visit our website. We would like to thank our sponsors, Oxbo Intl., Inc. and AgroSource for their supplying the refreshments and lunch. We are pleased to report that during the month of April there were over 65,000 hits to our website, http://citrusMH.ifas.ufl.edu, a 300% increase over previous months. We attribute this to our field day and a continuing interest in citrus mechanical harvesting.

June 22, 2009

The Citrus Mechanical Harvesting Program Economics studies, directed by Fritz Roka, Economist at SWFREC, attempts to address questions related to machine and worker productivity, crop yields, harvesting costs, and valuing the costs and benefits of incorporating abscission as part of the overall harvesting system. A “load allocation” study addresses efficiency of harvesting equipment, but also includes broader interests of juice processors, such as juice quality, optimal harvest timing, and trade offs between length of harvest season and bulk-tank juice storage capacity. If you would like to learn more about the outcome of these studies please visit the economics section on the website.

Dr. Tim Spann, a horticulturist and member of the IFAS Citrus Mechanical Harvesting & Abscission program recently completed a report summarizing data from one year on debris from mechanical harvesting systems. The study, conducted during the 2007-2008 harvesting season, was done to determine the effects of mechanical harvesting systems on the amount of debris accumulated in a harvested load of fruit compared to hand harvesting. The report, entitled “Mechanical Harvesting Systems and CMNP Effects on Debris Accumulation in Loads of Citrus Fruit” is available by clicking on either “Processor Issues” or “Site Updates” to download the file to view.

April 2, 2009

Dr. Reza Ehsani, an agriculture engineer at CREC, is a member of the IFAS Citrus Mechanical Harvesting & Abscission Program. His team is researching mass harvesting machine improvements which includes yield monitoring, improvements of the canopy shaking mechanisms, variable rate shaking of trees, and a trash detection system using machine vision. A product of this research are numerous publications that the team has reported their findings. We have downloaded nine new research publications to the website http://citrusMH.ifas.ufl.edu for you to view and print. Please go to the website and look under our Publications Database.

December 2, 2008

November 7, 2008

If you have been considering mechanical harvesting but your concern is loosing next season’s fruitlets from the shaking motion, you might want to read about a study being conducted by members of the IFAS Citrus Mechanical Harvesting team. Dr. Jim Syvertsen, located at CREC, has shown that delaying bloom of ‘Valencia’ with drought stress in the winter can improve late season harvesting. It is his team’s belief that bloom can be delayed 3 weeks allowing the younger fruitlets to be smaller and less susceptible to late season mechanical harvesting losses after May. His team has been researching this objective and had some very good results. If you are interested in reading more about Jim’s study, please go to the Tree Health section on this website. Here you will find more information on this and other studies being conducted to aid mechanical harvesting.

September 27, 2008

Update on Mechanical Harvesting Enhancements: Autonomous Guidance System

Citrus mechanical harvesting has opened up a new realm of emerging developments, including robotic equipment for additional tasks. Included in these new technologies are the concept of an autonomous guidance system that could be used in various applications, including scouting, spraying, mowing, and more. Dr. Tom Burks, an Ag. Engineer with the UF/IFAS Citrus Mechanical Harvesting Program, has been working on the development of an unmanned vehicle using a John Deere E-gator equipped with machine vision and laser radar. This unmanned vehicle was seen navigating through a grove alleyway and maneuvering end-of-row turns at the SWFREC mechanical harvesting field day in April. To learn more about the potential of this machine and the other robotic research please visit the Robotics program site.

August 5, 2008

If you have would have liked to attend one of our field days but due to the location or to your busy work schedule have not been able to we have made it easy for you to still get the information you missed. You can now view all of the field day presentations on the website. They are available as PDF files so that you can download them and print them if you like. We plan to hold future field days and if you would like to receive notification of our field days or seminars presented on citrus mechanical harvesting, please email Barbara Hyman at hymanb@ufl.edu. If you have any questions or would like to share any ideas for future field day topics please contact us.

June 16, 2008

With an increased interest in citrus mechanical harvesting, citrus processors are becoming concerned about issues that could have a direct impact on their operations. To aid in their search for answers The IFAS Citrus Mechanical Harvesting website has added a topic grouping entitled “Processor Issues”. Food Safety related to fruit picked off the ground and Trailer Debris are two issues of concern to processors, and possibly could prove to be impediments to the adoption of mechanical harvesting.

Food safety addresses the effects of mechanical harvesting on fruit microflora. Dr. Michelle Danyluk is investigating whether mechanically harvesting with a ground fruit machine increases bacteria on the peel and in the juice. She is further looking at the increased amount of sand present in mechanically harvested fruit picked up off the ground.

A trailer debris study headed by Dr. Tim Spann addresses the amount of trash (stems, branches, twigs and leaves) being deposited into a trailer of mechanically harvested fruit. At the very least, unwanted debris increases waste handling costs. At the worst, debris could damage processing machinery.

May 1, 2008

UF/IFAS professors Jackie Burns and Bob Ebel are conducting field trials into aspects of abscission management. Timing of application, concentration of active ingredient, and spray volume are some of the variables they are investigating to develop management protocol for CMNP (abscission compound) once it passes through the US/EPA registration process. Their work was summarized during the most recent field day at the Southwest Research and Education Center on April 22. If your busy work schedule prevented you from attending the field day, you may view all of the field day presentations here. They are available as PDF files so that you can download and print whatever you like. If you have any questions, or would like to share any ideas for future field day topics, please contact Barbara Hyman at (239) 658-3400 or email hymanb@ufl.edu.

March 17, 2008

Do you know about abscission or the new technologies being developed for yield estimation or yield monitoring with citrus mechanical harvesters and autonomous guidance? If you are interested in seeing and learning more about these and other new technologies being developed for mechanical harvesters, plan on attending the 2008 Spring Citrus Mechanical Harvesting Field Day on April 22. It will be held at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee. There will be presentations as well as demonstrations. Lunch will be provided. To learn more, call Barbara at (239) 658-3461. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
View the agenda.

January 2, 2008

Update on Continuous Canopy Shake Systems
The OXBO International Corporation reports that sales of citrus mechanical harvesting equipment have slowed this year in Florida. They are, however, seeing a lot of interest and sales activity outside the United States. Their plans in 2008 are to focus on updates and enhancements to current equipment. Further, OXBO has opened a full service shop for their machines located in LaBelle, Florida.

Oxbo is presently the only manufacturer building commercial equipment for citrus harvesting. They continue to work on a new tree sprayer that should enhance the application of abscission, and in January 2008, they plan to deliver a new Pickup machine to Florida. The new version has alarger pick-up head and a redesigned cab. If you are interested in learning more about the continuous canopy shake systems you can contact them at oxbocorp.com. If you are interested in learning more about the economics of the citrus mechanical harvesting machines, please browse the Economics section of this site. Or, if you want to determine which machine would be better for you visit citrustool.ifas.ufl.edu.

November 6, 2007

Final Numbers for Mechanically Harvested Acres and Boxes
During the 2006-07 citrus harvesting season, efforts to expand mechanical harvesting usage were met with good results. Mechanically harvested acreage, increased by 12%. In 2006-07, 35,600 acres were mechanically harvested as opposed to 31,700 acres in 2005-06. Mechanical harvesting systems handled 7% of the total orange tree acreage for Florida. Overall, mechanical systems collected 8.3 million boxes, up from the 7.9 million boxes mechanically harvested in 2005-06. With questions surrounding harvest labor availability, the likelihood that mechanically harvested acreage will expand again during the 2007-08 season is very strong.

October 9, 2007

New Members
This past season three new members were added to the IFAS Citrus Mechanical Harvesting Program. Robert Ebel (SWFREC), a plant physiologist, will work to develop methodologies for growers to adopt mechanical harvesting. He will also be working on the development of abscission compounds to aid in mechanical harvesting and optimize tree health to promote recovery after harvest. Michelle Danyluk (CREC), a food scientist, will be looking at the food safety and value of processed citrus products that were mechanically harvested. Tim Spann (CREC), a horticulturist, will be researching how the use of mechanical harvesting affects the amount of trash (leaves, stems and twigs) that is deposited into a trailer.

July 26, 2007

Program Updates
Welcome to the IFAS Citrus Mechanical Harvesting Website. Whether this is your first visit or you have been here before you will find new and vital information. The program sections have updates showing what the program unit accomplished this year and the goals they have set for the upcoming year. You will find trial results and what was learned from those trials. For example, you can read about research trials that have been done with abscission as well as accomplishments made with the yield monitoring systems. You will also notice a listing of publications with each report that was published from the results. Soon you will be able to download these publications.

History Section Updates
Please visit the history section and you will find new video clips as well as slides to view as you read along the history of citrus mechanical harvesting. There is narration to each so you can easily understand what you are watching. You can watch short video clips of some older machines from as far back as the 1950’s. Soon we will be adding a new history section that will bring you up to date on what is happening up to today.

May 15, 2007

Machine Enhancements

Yield Monitoring
Evaluation tests are currently being done on the load cell based yield monitoring system. It has been installed onto a canopy shaker for field tests with the support of Oxbo Company, International. Initial results are very encouraging. Secondly, an image based mass flow sensing method has been developed and ready for installation onto an Oxbo machine as well.

Catch Frame Improvements
A control system has been developed to synchronize the forward movement of the receiver to the shaker and maintain the catch frame of the receiver to an optimal distance from the tree trunk. The system uses two types of laser scanners. The lasers can be used to recognize tree trunks and measure the distance between the sensor and the trunk.

Improvement of Canopy Shaker Mechanism to Reduce Tree Injuries
A Zig-Bee based wireless mesh sensor network has been developed to help enable the collection of real-time data. This will allow us to study the physics and dynamics of fruit removal and distribution of the vibrational forces throughout the canopy as the canopy shaker interacts with the tree. Field studies are being conducted.

March 28, 2007

Don’t Get Hung-up on May 1.

One of the biggest impediments to the widespread adoption of citrus mechanical harvesting is harvesting Valencia’s without adversely affecting next year’s crop. Valencia harvest generally starts after bloom, so that harvest occurs with two crops hanging simultaneously on the tree – this year’s mature fruit and next year’s developing green fruitlets. During March and April, the fruitlets remain small and it has been shown, both by UF-IFAS research and grower experience, that mechanical harvesting of Valencia during these months can proceed without any adverse yield affect on next year’s crop. Concern starts mounting when fruitlets reach 1-inch (2.5 cm) diameter. Trunk and canopy shakers more easily detach fruitlets greater than 1-inch diameters. As to when fruitlets reach the 1-inch diameter depends on the timing of flowering and on growing conditions of the season. In some years, (eg., 2006) most fruitlets could be less than 1-inch through early June. In other years with an early bloom date, many fruitlets reach 1-inch diameters by early May. Growers and harvesters need to be mindful of fruitlet size, and not a specific calendar date, before suspending mechanical harvesting operations. Our ongoing field trials will seek to refine critical fruitlet size and timing for safe late season mechanical harvesting of Valencias.

Until an abscission compound can be registered and perfected for citrus harvesting, mechanically harvesting Valencias after the young fruitlets reach 1-inch diameters will be a challenge. Removing a sufficient percentage of this year’s crop while minimizing fruitlet losses requires that late season mature fruit to be looser; thereby allowing shakers to significantly reduce their harvesting power (i.e., shake aggressiveness). The idea behind an abscission compound is to selectively reduce the detachment force of the mature fruit. With abscission compounds, the shaking power can be reduced to protect the young fruit while achieving more than 95% removal of the current, mature fruit.

March 08, 2007

ABSCISSION PROGRAM UPDATES- Jacqueline K. Burns

CMNP Registration
Support and screening of the CMNP-related formulations.

Late Season Management
An important goal for the late season management problem is to identify immature fruit sizes susceptible to removal and subsequent yield loss. Funds have been redirected to this area and more trials have been established. There are 4 more trials scheduled for the months of May and June.

Abscission Management
Nine new abscission compounds were screened on ‘Hamlin’. Of these, 2 were moderately active. The impact of rootstock on abscission agent-directed fruit loosening is being evaluated. Daily fluctuations in fruit pull force were shown to be associated with the time of day, temperature, and humidity changes.

Long term yield monitoring will occur in planned and on-going trials. During a period between bloom and 3 weeks post-anthesis, abscission agent removal of young Valencia fruits are being evaluated. Return bloom and yield will be monitored in these trees.

February 8, 2007

IFAS Citrus Mechanical Harvesting Field Day, Immokalee

Mark your calendar for April 18, 2007 to attend the next IFAS Citrus Mechanical Harvesting Field Day. It will be held in Immokalee at the University of Florida’s Southwest Florida Research and Education Center. You will hear the latest on research being done on citrus mechanical harvesters, including abscission and tree health. And, you will have a chance to visit a “concept grove” planted with high headed trees at the Southwest REC. We are planning a trip to a commercial grove to observe the trunk and canopy shaker systems. Lunch will be provided.

January 19, 2007

The FDOC Citrus Harvesting Research Advisory Council Meeting- Dec. 5

The FDOC Citrus Harvesting Research Advisory Council held their quarterly meeting on December 5th in Lakeland at the FDOC headquarters. Paul Meador, who has served as chairman of the Council for the past 5 years, stepped down from his leadership position. The Council voted Carson Futch, current Vice Chariman, as the next Council Chair. John Whitehead was voted to be the next Vice-Chairman.

Dan King reported that during the 2005/06 season 31,694 acres and 7,901,173 boxes were harvested mechanically, exceeding the goal of 25,000 acres. . As there was a discrepancy in the numbers obtained by FDOC and the UF/IFAS group, it was suggested that a survey be done at the end of the early-mid season and again after the ’Valencia’ season. All those members who participated in the surveys readily accepted this idea.

Jackie Burns, UF program leader on abscission research, reported that the abscission late season harvest trials were reestablished in a grove outside Immokalee. Fruit losses from Hurricane Wilma prevent 2006 yield data from being utilized. Council discussed the possibilities of having UF acquire direct use of harvesting equipment.

Taw Richardson, of AgriSource, manages the EPA registration process of the abscission agent, CMNP. He reported that the timeline for CMNP registration was on track. Full registration is expected by the year 2011. Dr. Gene Albrigo presented results from satellite imagery and software packages to estimate citrus tree counts and production. One software package is being used in Brazil and reported to be a 91-96% accuracy. Dr. Harold Browning announced that through funding from the Citrus Initiative $1.3 M had been allocated to research and education efforts toward mechanical harvesting.

November 2006

The Citrus Harvesting Decision Model is a new tool designed to help growers decide whether or not mechanical harvesting is a profitable option. With labor shortages likely during the 2006-07 season, growers should investigate mechanical harvesting options. If more than one mechanical system is available, the Decision Tool will also help them determine which system harvests at the lowest cost using information specific to a grower’s block or grove.

Some of the information you will be asked to enter is relevant data about yield, fruit prices, harvest costs, and costs to prepare trees for mechanical harvesting systems. You will also provide information on harvest costs for a hand crew and for one or more mechanical systems. Based on the data entered, the Decision Tool will compute the unit cost of harvesting ($/box and $/p.s.) by harvest method.

Anyone can access the Decision Tool without providing a username and password. If, however, you want to save your data for future use, an account can be created.

October/November 2006

A Report on Acres and Boxes Mechanically Harvested in the 05/06 Season:

During the 2005-06 citrus harvesting season, efforts to expand mechanical harvesting usage were met with good and bad news. In southwest Florida, where most of the mechanical harvesting systems have been operating, fruit yields were down between 25 and 50%, primarily due to effects from Hurricane Wilma. Overall, mechanical harvesting systems collected 7.9 million boxes, down from the more than 9 million boxes mechanically harvested in 2004-05. Mechanically harvested acreage, however, increased by more than 20%. In 2005-06, 31,694 acres were mechanically harvested as opposed to 23,900 acres in 2004-05. The likelihood that mechanically harvested acreage will expand again during the 2006-07 season is very strong. It has also been reported that an additional six self-propelled continuous canopy shake & catch machines have been purchased for contract harvesting and in grove use.