Pick of the crop for an easier apple harvest

Article from This is Somerset.

It's big, blue and highly efficient. And for West Country cidermakers it spells the end of the age-old chore of picking apples by hand.

The first production model of a new apple harvester conceived by master cider maker John Thatcher has gone into service.

The harvester has been built by SFM Technology, based in Martock, near Yeovil, a company experienced in producing bespoke agriculture machinery - as well as working with advanced engineering companies such as GKN Aerospace and AgustaWestland.

And this autumn it will be helping to slash harvesting times in the Thatcher orchards in and around their company's base in Sandford, near Weston-super-Mare.

Harvesting cider fruit has always been a labour-intensive process, usually involving picking apples from the cider floor where they have fallen.

But the new machine - which can also be adapted for spraying and trimming the tress - is designed to gently shake the apples off the branches.

The fruit then falls into the stainless steel internal tunnel, on to a conveyor and straight into a trailer.

Mr Thatcher said: "From there, they are taken straight to our mill, so at no time do the apples touch the ground - and handling is kept to a minimum.

"By harvesting ten days before the optimum pick date, on the pick date, as well as ten days after, we are catching all the fruit as it is ready.

"The days of picking apples by hand commercially are over. Shake and catch is the way forward. We tried using a commercially available machine some years ago, but it didn't do the job in the way we wanted, so that inspired us to come up with our own design."

Pomologist Liz Copas said: "This is an impressive machine and a very timely and interesting project. By introducing this machine, John Thatcher is truly progressing the cider industry."

And specialist grower John Worle, said: "This project has been seen through by John Thatcher and he's done it all with a smile on his face. The cider industry hasn't seen such development in harvesting since the 1970s."