Why are
you paying $200, $300, $400 per acre for hand pruning when you can pay $30,
$40, $50 per acre for mechanical pruning??
As
plantings per acre tighten and labor cost increase, it is time to rethink how
you prune your orchard. It has become time
to farm the “ROW” of trees
rather than farm one tree at a time.
25 years
ago, an olive farmer would have never considered farming a “row” of
olives. Each tree had to be individually
manicured. But look at today! Olive trees are planted only a few feet apart
and the entire “ROW” is farmed
rather than the individual tree. Could
you imagine telling an olive farmer today that he should hand prune his orchard
to increase yields and profit??
Why the
hesitation from walnut and almond farmers to think of the row rather than
the tree?? A Mechanical Pruning program
has been proven to increase profitability and longevity of an orchard! You have more light penetration, more airflow,
less disease, improved spray coverage, larger nut size, healthier and invigorated
trees, and increased production. And an added benefit is more efficient/safer
cultural operations such as: the operator is not dodging branches from the
tractor seat; the operator is not riding and wearing out clutches as he dodges
the branches; and every practice from chopping to spraying is done in less
time and with more ability to cover more acres per hour. In other words, MUCH
LESS EXPENSE PER ACRE ALONG WITH A LARGER YEILD!!
In my opinion,
the sooner walnut and almond farmers think of the row
rather than the tree, the sooner they will keep more dollars in their pocket!