Innovative mechanical harvesting technology - is it bridging the gap to handpicking?
Innovative mechanical harvesting technology - is it bridging the gap to handpicking?
Robin Brockett
Introduction
Machine harvesting has become part and parcel of the Australian wine industry over the past 50 years. Over that time great strides have been and continue to be made. From when the rudimentary beginnings of the first harvesters were largely ignored in favour of human pickers to the sophisticated advancements of today with nearly all grapes now picked by machine the pros and cons of hand and machine harvesting continue to be a source of lively discussion. In the early days machines were built to be rugged and durable with little regard to ensuring the overall quality of the fruit being harvested. However, in its favour, when a machine was utilised, rather than gangs of people doing the picking, this did lead to greater efficiencies of scale as well as substantial cost savings. Over time, and especially in the past 25 years, technology advancements have led to notable improvements in greater consistency in the levels of achievable quality of fruit harvested, a noticeably less invasive impact in the vineyard as well as substantially reducing the time it takes to harvest. It would not be presumptive to assert that, with the speed at which major advancements are occurring in all aspects of design and innovation, it is a new dawn in harvester technology.
