ELWOOD, Ind. — Row crop farmers know this year’s planting season was disrupted, and tomato growers are no exception – at a recent Red Gold field day, industry experts explained to producers new and recurring challenges to expect during the upcoming harvest.

 

Ben Puehler, owner of McDonnall Harvester and Parts, Inc., is well aware of this year’s challenges. He and his team spoke on a variety of topics specific to this harvesting season during the August 3 field day.

“It’s been a very trying year – the planting season was very sporadic because of the weather, and thus the harvest will dictate that in being sporadic, and we’re going to go from points of being really rushed to get the crop ready and then sitting and waiting,” he explained.

Puehler’s team is the only one in a 38-state area which offers service tomost types of vegetable harvesting equipment, which are generally specialized machines. The McDonnall service team makes trips in the field throughout the harvesting season and is on call 24/7.

“These producers can’t just ‘call the other dealer’ or call a closer dealer; we’re the only one to call,” he said. “There’s three servicemen per 100 machines spread across so many states.”

Steve Smith, director of agriculture at Red Gold, echoed Puehler’s concerns. “It’s easy to start your harvesting season and get it all done in one go,” he noted. “It gets difficult to start and stop your season five times. Don’t let a day go by to pick because you’re waiting on that last little bit of the field to ripen. It’s going to be to your advantage to charge on.”

One of the biggest problems in harvesting tomatoes and vegetables this season will be the pools of standing water that have accumulated in fields due to the planting season’s frequent rain.

“The crop that has lain there in that water has created decay and disease in that puddle of water,” Puehler explained. “So any of that crop that’s lain in a standing pool of water, that water gets very, very hot and it virtually cooks that crop on the plant. It’s not a sellable crop.”

Though producers will be eager to pick up any and all tomatoes during harvest to sell the largest quality possible, he urges them to not attempt to salvage those areas of the fields. “By leaving that on the ground, you’re bettering your chances and your quality of product in the overall load by ignoring the extreme poor-quality stuff.”

“If you know you are not going over the plants – maybe you’re going over a driveway – do not pick that stuff up,” Smith added. “We don’t want any surprises down the production line.”

Instead, Puehler recommends focusing on quality of product. “The growers need to take what they have, and make the very best out of it,” he said. “A lot of you guys aren’t going to make contract, you’re going to come up a little short.

“I’m encouraging you to slow down and take the good stuff to town. Don’t wear your machine down by picking up all that junk that’s floating down in that low spot.”

Objects such as corncobs and rocks also tend to collect in low areas, causing machines to “harvest” them. Puehler said sorters on machines should be checked prior to harvest. If it is not sorting right he says to call his team, which will be available to help calibrate sorters.

Because of the amount of road and infrastructure work going on in Indiana right now, he said producers should take detours or delays into account when calculating when the tech team may arrive.

Nearly all speakers urged producers to be aware of safety concerns when working with their equipment. “Safety, safety, safety – with your drivers, with your crew, with anyone involved – we want everyone to be safe and have a good season,” Smith said.

“Every year we seem to have several close calls,” Puehler added. “If one of my employees tells me he was just out to see a machine and it wasn’t being operated safely, we won’t be back. I’m not going to jeopardize anyone on our team with someone who can’t maintain a safe work environment in the field. There’s no crop in the world that is worth anyone’s life.”

He said exhaustion can contribute to slip-ups in safety toward the end of the season. New employees who are unfamiliar with the machines need to be constantly warned about staying away from moving parts. For this purpose, Puehler also has a Spanish-speaking tech on his crew to help remind more workers about safety.

“You have to constantly keep your guard up because people do not know what these machines represent in terms of ability to hurt someone,” he said. “One of these machines could rip your arm off without hesitating.”

Making matters more complicated, tomato crops are such that they only get worse as time goes on. Product will spoil easily on the ground if not picked in time.

“Everybody’s tension goes up as the crop ages,” Puehler said. “I recommend getting lots of sleep. You have to have patience, understanding and communication to keep everyone safe.”