Blueberry Harvesting Methods: By Hand, Shaking and Trapping, and Machine Harvesting

Website design By BotEap.com1.) hand picking

Website design By BotEap.comBlueberry picking is a nice way to harvest blueberries. Look for good ripe blueberries. A good blueberry skin should not be cracked and should be firm and round, blue. They will not become sweeter after picking. To pick blueberries cup your hand under the bunch of blueberries and simply try to roll them off the branch into your hand using your thumb. Then put the blueberries in your bucket. If it doesn’t come off easily, it’s probably not ripe yet, so move on. Several blueberries at a time using this procedure and most of the berries that aren’t ready will remain on the stem. About 40 to 50 percent of commercially grown blueberries are picked by hand.

Website design By BotEap.comBlueberry picking tool:

Website design By BotEap.comUsing a blueberry rake can make harvesting much faster. A blueberry rake is a flat-toothed instrument used to remove berries from the plant without damaging it. Using a Hubbard rake is much faster than doing the same thing by hand. These are made by the Hubbard Rake Co. in Jonesport, Maine 04649.

Website design By BotEap.comHand harvesting of blueberries has been estimated to require up to 550 worker-hours per acre and as of 2011 cost about $1.00 per pound. Labor costs are expected to rise while blueberry prices are expected to decline. As the blueberry industry expands nationally, finding enough handpicking workers during peak harvest season can become a problem.

Website design By BotEap.com2.) You choose

Website design By BotEap.comThe U-pick is done by hand by customers who come to the farm for this purpose. They carry their cranberries in a bucket or other container. At some point a rope is attached to the bucket so that it can be hung over your shoulder or around a person’s neck. A great container can easily be made by using a 1 gallon plastic milk bottle and cutting off the top of the front and top, making sure to leave the handle part. From the farmers’ perspective, u-picking may be the most cost-effective alternative. However, you should have substantial liability insurance in case of an unforeseen accident.

Website design By BotEap.com3.) Shake and Catch (Blueberry Fruit Capture Frame)

Website design By BotEap.comThere are blueberry fruit catching frames that are made to roll under blueberry bushes to pick up the blueberries when the branches are shaken. The branches or stems can be gently tapped with a rubber hand hose to shake off the ripe blueberries. You can also use an electric or pneumatic mechanical shaker to shake the branches. If you shake too many green cranberries, it means you’re playing too loud! Using such a simple, hand-operated, wheeled rolling harvesting frame, you can harvest a heavily laden large bearing plant in no time. When you want to empty the frame, the frame which is now filled with blueberries tilts back on its wheels so the ripe fruit rolls towards a rear lid which opens so the berries fall directly into the bin. The blueberries can then be gently passed over an inclined blower and belt to remove debris.

Website design By BotEap.comWith this method, you can solve the crop depression in hot weather from long hours in the field picking blueberries. You can then offer your U-Pick customers freshly picked blueberries at retail prices! These blueberry fruit picking frames were the predecessors of current mechanical harvesting systems. They were widely used in the 1950s and often used portable power-driven vibrators that used batteries or compressed air to remove the fruit. As discussed above, the fruit was trapped in a tarpaulin-covered trapping structure placed under the plant. Such a simple system is incredibly efficient reducing harvest cost by 55% and reducing harvest time by over 200%. Cranberry fruit catch frames are now hard to find because manufacturers now make mechanical harvesting systems and have stopped making the catch frames.

Website design By BotEap.comIf you can’t find a commercially available capture frame, you can create your own using a photographic image of such a capture frame as shown on blueberry croft’s blueberry blog.

Website design By BotEap.com4.) Mechanical harvest of blueberries

Website design By BotEap.comHarvesting blueberries with a machine is not a panacea. If the ground slope is more than 10 percent, it is difficult to harvest with a machine. The damage to blueberries is higher than manual picking. In general, the expense of a self-propelled harvester cannot be justified unless your blueberry production acreage exceeds 10 acres.

Website design By BotEap.comSeveral factors have generated increased interest in using a machine to harvest blueberries in recent years, as mechanical harvesting technology has improved, new labor regulations have emerged, and costs have increased. Not all fields are suitable for the use of mechanical harvesters. In general, at least 10 rows or wide rows are required and 25 foot turning locations are needed at the end of the rows for movement of motorized combines. Blueberries for the fresh market have a short shelf life when harvested by machine. Therefore, machine-harvested blueberries must sell quickly. The shelf life is typically shorter than that of hand-picked blueberries.

Website design By BotEap.comPerhaps the most serious drawback to using mechanical harvesters is that this process can damage the blueberries. Blueberries can simply be bruised from the impact resulting from a vertical drop during any step of the mechanical harvesting process. If the height of a drop on a hard surface exceeds 6 inches, extensive bruising may occur on ripe blueberries. The amount of damage is related to the distance the blueberries fall. Bruised blueberries are also subject to further decay during storage after harvest.

Website design By BotEap.comToday, machine harvesting is about 10 times faster than a typical person using a hand rake and running it through the bushes over and over again throughout the day. About 10 years ago, 20% of blueberries were harvested with mechanical equipment. Today about 80 percent of growers with large blueberry fields use machinery to replace manual pickers because it is cheaper.