In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by blueberry producer and innovative farmer Sam Gray, and Laina Gray, U.S. operations manager for FineField. Sam is the farm manager for his family’s business, PineBloom Farms, in Albany, Georgia. He created a process for using FineField’s Harvy 500 and the Burro automated cart to improve blueberry harvest efficiencies. Laina has firsthand experience with the Harvy 500, FineField’s solar-powered robotic autonomous harvester. Together, they share insights on this collaboration and the benefits it offers blueberry producers when it comes to future automated processes. 

“So, I had no idea that we were going to use them both in tandem. It just seemed easier and maybe less wear and tear on everybody kind of involved in the operation. And then also the benefit … with the Harvy is as we're continually loading and unloading the fruit, it is probably not being in the heat off the bush for more than 10 to 15 minutes because it's going off the machine, it's getting palletized, and it's immediately being put in a refrigerated trailer. So, it just helps with getting that fruit to a temperature where if it does have bruising or if it does have defects, it will kind of slow the decay.” — Sam Gray

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to Sam and Laina, and their work in the blueberry industry.
• The motivations and the process Sam used for incorporating automation into his operation. 
• The benefits and challenges of using two unique automated technologies during harvest. 

Watch this video to see the automated machines working in tandem. 

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on November 15, 2024.