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Basil Harvesting & Processing

 This behind the scenes visit was particularly exciting for me because I have never been to a watermelon operation before. There are a lot of spirited debates in the agricultural industry regarding watermelon packing operations in the southeastern United States. So, I decided to go to a watermelon operation to see for myself. The following watermelon harvest and packing footage is what I encountered at Bowles Farming Company in California!

 

Watermelon Harvest

 

Bowles Farming Company is currently looking into new technology that will help automate the watermelon harvesting process. In the meantime, all watermelon harvest is taking place by hand.

 

There were two different types of watermelon harvesting and packing taking place in the field:

 

1.Harvesting watermelons into boxes (either six larger watermelons per box or two smaller watermelons per bag and then four bags per box)

 

2.Harvesting watermelons into bulk cardboard bins

 

The difference in how they are harvested and packed in the field is determined based on the customer and what they require. For example, if you are a Costco shopper, you might recognize the two watermelon per bag setup.

 

You will notice in the video below that the harvesters are just picking up the watermelons from the ground. They are able to do this because a cutting crew went through the field beforehand and cut all of the watermelons so that the harvest crew would only have to lift up the melons and hand them off to the packers.

 

For the first watermelon harvest and packing method, the watermelons are harvested and placed on the packing table of the harvesting rig. The packers then place the watermelons into the boxes, or into bags and then boxes. The watermelons all receive sticker labels and are sent on a conveyor over to the adjacent trailer to be packed.

For the second watermelon harvest and packing option, this was unlike anything I have seen before! The harvesters were picking up the watermelons and tossing them, similar to the style of shooting a basketball, up to a worker located on top of a flatbed truck in the field. Everything about this was really astonishing to me because they make it look so easy. However, this has got to be extremely physically demanding, both for the harvesters and the packers.

All of the product that is packed in the field is then taken to the nearby packing shed. They are stored at the packing shed until they are shipped to the customer.

 

Watermelon Packing

 

For the watermelons that are not packed into the final unit in the field, they are taken to the packing shed to be ran through the packing line.

The packing process consists of:

 

-The workers remove the watermelons from the bulk cardboard bins and place them onto the packing line

 

-The watermelons pass through three different brush steps (without the use of any wash water)

 

-The watermelons are labeled and packed into large cardboard bins once again

 

-The bins are covered with cardboard lids and palletized until further shipment

One thing you might notice is that this packing shed is not fully enclosed. This is a common occurrence with watermelon packing operations, but is not common for most other crops.

 

Please see the video below for a more in-depth view at the watermelon harvesting and packing process.

I would like to send a big thank you to Bowles Farming Company for the tour and for allowing the gathered content to be shared!