So that you need to begin reaping your harvest, however you’re undecided the place to start out?
Sam Knapp constructed Offbeet Farm, a winter storage farm in inside Alaska, from the bottom up. Learn on for a way he breaks down the choices of harvesting instruments for each small- or large-scale operations.
Past the Root Cellar is the inspiring information that proves that—with slightly ingenuity—the savvy grower can efficiently choose, harvest, retailer, and promote greens all through the low season, offering their household and group the native meals they want throughout winter months.
The next excerpt is from Past the Root Cellar by Sam Knapp. It has been tailored for the net.
Featured Picture: Harvest conveyors enable crew members harvesting a number of rows to shortly and safely ship veggies to reap bins on a trailer with out strolling forwards and backwards or tossing veggies by the air. Picture courtesy of Martin’s Produce Provides.
Harvest Instruments
Whereas there could also be some overlap with different vegetable farms, farms that target storage crops often have specialised instruments and tools to make the harvest simpler and quicker. Practically all storage crops are cumbersome and heavy. Many storage crops develop not less than partially underground and have to be dug out. Most instruments and tools for harvest both enable you to dig up crops or transfer them from place to put extra effectively. Some instruments are frequent to most farms, whereas others are extra particular to both small- or large-scale farms.
As storage farms develop and develop, many are on the seek for an tools candy spot.
The aim of equipment is nearly all the time to make duties quicker, extra environment friendly, and extra ergonomic to staff. Machines include prices, some apparent and a few not, and any farmer ought to estimate value financial savings when contemplating a brand new piece of equipment.
- How a lot does it value in labor, gas, time, and so forth to do a process at present, and the way will that change with the brand new tools?
- Are these financial savings well worth the prices of the tools?
- How a lot labor is obtainable, and would you slightly rent staff or use a quicker machine?
- Will the tools stop hidden prices, resembling future medical payments or lack of bodily capability as a result of damage or overuse?
Machines and tools ought to match not solely your price range and scale, but additionally your objectives and values.
Reducing instruments are discovered on most each farm, no matter measurement. These are easy knives and pruners for slicing and trimming crops within the subject. Knife types are a private selection. For instance, some farmers desire lettuce- or broccoli-style harvest knives—which have sharpened and squared-off or rounded suggestions—for cabbages.
A potpourri of harvest knives at Offbeet Farm. Those with vivid orange markings—both paint or flagging—are more likely to be discovered if misplaced within the subject.
Picture courtesy of Phil Knapp.
These enable staff to chop by stalks with a pushing movement that makes use of the shoulder slightly than the wrist. Many farmers additionally desire pruning shears over knives for harvesting winter squash and pumpkins. Even when stems aren’t corky, there’s no telling what you may hit after slicing by a resistant squash stalk (one other squash, irrigation strains, or worse).
With each knives and pruners, it’s essential to maintain them sharp, and I often carry a sharpener in my again pocket. Sharp knives and pruners are safer to make use of than uninteresting ones, and so they make cleaner cuts much less more likely to appeal to pathogens in storage.
It’s additionally a good suggestion to connect vivid colours to those small and easily-lost instruments! Whether or not meaning spray paint, tape, or flagging, you’ll thank your self for doing this when a software out of the blue disappears.
There are a number of instruments that assist loosen soil in order that belowground crops are simpler to tug by hand later.
On the hand scale, there are each digging forks and broadforks. Digging forks, additionally known as spading forks, are nice instruments for a lot of duties, from loosening carrots to digging potatoes. They’re straightforward to make use of and cheap, however they’re comparatively sluggish.
Broadforks are a quicker hand-scale possibility. They’re often two to a few instances wider than conventional digging forks, however they usually value significantly extra. Though you need to use common broadforks for harvesting, the harvest-specific broadforks are finest. Their tines are nearer collectively—to cut back the danger of tines slipping by the soil and damaging crops—and narrower, so that they’re lighter and simpler to push into the bottom.
The go-to instruments on bigger, tractor-scale farms are undercutter bars, additionally known as mattress lifters. These are easy, comparatively cheap implements mounted to the three-point hitch on full-sized tractors. The “bar” is pulled by the soil at depths of 12 to 16 inches to raise and loosen the soil above (therefore the title).
Many farms with out extra specialised harvesting tools run undercutter bars beneath their deep-rooted crops to make hand-pulling simpler and quicker. I’ve additionally heard of farms utilizing subsoilers to loosen soil round crops like garlic, however undercutter bars are way more frequent. Sadly, two-wheeled tractors don’t have sufficient weight or traction to tug undercutter bars by the soil. Many have tried it, and plenty of have failed.
Tractor-Run Harvesters
Each for two-wheeled and full-sized tractors, there are extra particular harvesting implements designed for single or a number of crops, although there are fewer choices for two-wheeled tractors. Each BCS and Aldo Biagioli promote comparatively cheap root-digging plows for two-wheeled tractors, however the normal consensus is that these apply primarily to potatoes. You’ll want so as to add weight to the twowheeled tractors—often wheel weights—and the diggers go solely as deep because the soil has just lately been labored.
The potato harvest at Open Door Farm in Cedar Grove, North Carolina, assisted by a single-row potato digger.
Picture courtesy of Jillian Mickens.
Crops resembling candy potatoes, carrots, and daikon radishes are sometimes rooted too deeply and are broken by these diggers, whereas extra shallowly rooted crops resembling beets, turnips, and onions don’t require sufficient soil-loosening to warrant such a software. These implements is likely to be helpful for garlic and sunchokes if pushed alongside the rows.
There are additionally PTO-powered potato diggers for walk-behind tractors, however they, too, have a depth limitation. The producers recommend that you just plant potatoes shallowly and depend on hilling to successfully use these harvesters.
Potato diggers for full-sized tractors are among the hottest harvesting implements on the market. They’re comparatively cheap and easy to run and restore, usually missing any hydraulic parts. Storage farmers use them for potatoes, in fact, however they’re additionally efficient at harvesting candy potatoes and sunchokes.
Most farmers I’ve talked to make use of Spedo-brand diggers. The only and most cost-effective mannequin is a one-row shaker, which sieves out soil and lifts tubers to the floor. It’s much like the walk-behind digger however can dig as much as 12 inches into unhilled soil. That stated, each weeds and moist soils are likely to thwart this model of harvester.
As one farmer I spoke with reported, the vibrating diggers wrestle to separate soil clumps and find yourself slicing by sections of moist or weedy soil with out really sifting out the spuds. Spedo (and different firms) additionally promote chain-style diggers, which use chain conveyors to take away soil from round tubers earlier than depositing them on the soil floor.
Chain diggers are dearer however can typically harvest a number of rows directly and work in a greater variety of soil circumstances than shaker-style diggers. There are additionally bigger chain-style harvesters that incorporate options resembling sorting areas for staff and the flexibility to hold and fill bulk pallet bins.
Carrots dangle from the harvest belts of a Scott Viner on Meals Farm in Wrenshall, Minnesota.
Picture courtesy of Janaki Fisher-Merritt.
Scott Viner Harvesters
The FMC Scott Viner (generally known as the Scott Viner) is by far the preferred root harvester amongst small-scale storage farmers. Each storage farmer I talked to who mechanically harvested their carrots, beets, and different roots both had used or was at present utilizing a Scott Viner. Initially designed for beet harvesting within the Thirties, Scott Viners are used as we speak for harvesting carrots, beets, radishes, parsnips, turnips, and even rutabagas, relying on modifications to the machine.
Their recognition is due partially to their performance, but additionally to their worth. As a result of they’re not manufactured and most are previous, they’re comparatively low cost so far as implements go. The most recent machine I might discover on the market was made within the Seventies.
That stated, they’re comparatively easy machines, and if a farmer is prepared to interchange hydraulic strains, grease or exchange bearings, and resurface rusty steel, older Scott Viners do their jobs admirably. They’re additionally versatile and may be modified to work inside a particular farm’s methods.
Scott Viners work by working a digging shoe beneath a row of roots—let’s say carrots for instance. On the identical time, a set of rubber belts pinch carrot tops simply above the crowns and raise them from the bottom. The belts run backward and up, the carrots dangling by their tops, towards a knife that cuts the tops and drops the carrots onto a series conveyor. The tops are shot out the again of the machine whereas the roots are conveyed away, the soil bouncing by the chains. Some farmers drive a wagon alongside the harvester for the carrots to drop into containers, whereas others modify the conveyor to spit carrots out behind the machine.
Scott Viners and comparable harvesters can turbocharge the speed of harvest for deep-rooted crops like carrots. A number of farmers reported that one quick employee can harvest between 200 and 250 kilos of carrots per hour on a clear mattress that’s been loosened by an undercutter bar. With a well-functioning Scott Viner, the standard charge will increase to 2,500 to three,000 kilos per hour.
Nevertheless, working the Scott Viner may require three to 4 folks: one to drive the tractor, one to function the Scott Viner, one to funnel carrots into bins, and one to tug a wagon alongside the machine. Scott Viners additionally require comparatively clear and dry fields. Weeds have a tendency to dam up the topping mechanism and might make it tough to see and align the machine to the row. The machine additionally has bother staying aligned and pulling roots from heavy, moist soils. Many farmers working Scott Viners or comparable machines shift their harvest dates to extend their possibilities for dry climate.
There are newer machines much like FMC Scott Viners that require fewer folks to function. One standard instance is from the Canadian firm Univerco. Their smallest root harvester may be operated by a single one that drives the tractor and operates the machine whereas the implement fills bulk pallet bins. These machines can even offload full bins with a hydraulic platform raise. Though such machines are dearer than Scott Viners, they sometimes run with fewer mechanical points and have decrease labor prices to function.
Supplies Dealing with at Harvest
Harvest is often the primary level within the storage course of when supplies dealing with turns into a problem. Storage crops are typically bulkier, heavier, and fewer invaluable by weight than their fresh-marketed cousins. To be a profitable storage farmer, you want to have the ability to raise and transfer heavy objects from place to put shortly and safely.
I like to think about the method of shifting crops out of the sector and into storage like a river system.
Furthest upstream are the small drainages and tributaries gathering water from small swales and ravines. These are like veggies passing by the palms of staff as they harvest small sections of the sector. As water strikes downhill, the small streams be a part of collectively to kind bigger rivers. These are like veggies from particular person sections of the sector aggregated collectively for processing steps resembling washing or curing. Ultimately, increasingly tributaries be a part of to kind giant and highly effective rivers that drain total watersheds. After processing, we place veggies inside our largest bulk containers and funnel them inside our storage areas the place they continue to be for weeks to months. What begins as a trickle turns into a mighty river of greens collected in a single place.
There are two fundamental items to the puzzle of supplies dealing with at harvest (and typically): the containers used to carry crops and the tools used to maneuver them.
Containers and dealing with tools are linked; the containers you utilize affect your choices for dealing with tools, and vice versa. This relationship additionally extends to the tools and strategies used for processing steps earlier than storage.
The harvest cart at Offbeet Farm is the principle method we transfer veggies from the sector to the wash station. Picture courtesy of Phil Knapp.
Let’s begin with choices for materials-handling tools.
On the hand scale are issues like wheelbarrows and carts. At Offbeet Farm, we largely use a modified backyard cart to move veggies from the sector to the wash station. This permits us to maneuver about 200 kilos at a time with minimal effort, as long as hundreds are properly balanced.
Carts and wheelbarrows often have limitations for each the load and peak (when stacking a number of containers) as a result of the consumer suggestions them at an angle along with lifting them, and that is very true when utilizing them on hills. There are some modern designs for well-balanced and ergonomic carts, resembling these popularized by Josh Volk of Sluggish Hand Farm.
Small trailers pulled by walk-behind tractors, ATVs, lawnmowers, pickup vans, and full-sized tractors are good choices for carrying bigger, heavier hundreds than is feasible with hand carts. Nevertheless, trailers are much less nimble than carts, requiring extra space to show round and extra talent to run in reverse. Pickup vans, or any automobiles with beds, are additionally nice choices for transporting veggies out of the sector. Many farms outfit their tractors or skid steers with forks to both transfer giant pallets or bulk bins all through the sector or to stack the bins on trailers for hauling.
Containers for harvesting and transporting veggies are often both very small or very giant.
On the small finish, many farms use 5-gallon buckets or bulb crates for harvesting. That’s as a result of these containers are comparatively low cost and simply moved, saved, and lifted. I personally advocate for utilizing small harvest containers as a result of it locations bodily limits on how a lot you’ll be able to raise at anyone time. Even some giant storage farms use 5-gallon buckets as direct harvest containers and switch the veggies into bigger containers later.
Bigger harvest containers are often bulk, pallet-sized bins resembling plastic macrobins. Employees can harvest instantly into bulk bins if the bins are pushed by the sector on forks, or they will empty smaller containers into close by bulk bins. These are the go-to containers for farms utilizing mechanical harvesters and time-saving tools like harvest conveyors. Some farmers use the identical containers for each harvest and storage, whereas others have particular containers for every process.
Whereas your harvest containers will affect your choices for dealing with tools and vice versa, this relationship isn’t equal.
I recommend prioritizing dealing with tools when contemplating upgrades. Bigger and stronger dealing with tools will prevent time by lowering the variety of journeys wanted to take away your crops from the sector, and, most significantly, giant dealing with tools can accommodate any container measurement.
This isn’t true within the different course; giant containers aren’t appropriate with small-scale dealing with instruments. Moreover, dealing with tools upgrades are sometimes inexpensive than container upgrades. That is very true when buying bulk storage bins, which may be a number of hundred {dollars} every. In fact, upgrading each containers and dealing with instruments concurrently is okay, however in the event you’re restricted by your price range, buy higher dealing with tools first.
Harvest Conveyors
Harvest conveyors are helpful for extra than simply storage crops however are extremely popular amongst farmers rising a number of cabbage or winter squash. The machines encompass growth arms extending 20 toes or extra off a harvest trailer with a conveyor belt that strikes crops from the sector to the trailer. Normally, a number of staff harvest alongside subject rows because the conveyor strikes slowly down the sector. One additional particular person is required to run the conveyor and direct veggies coming off it into containers. The fantastic thing about this method is that staff don’t want to hold (or toss, as many farm crews do) squash or cabbage heads between the rows and the trailer or containers.
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