RESEARCH & EVENTS
Loadcell a harvest game changer
ABOVE: Using Inform Ag ' s loadcell has streamlined harvest at the ACE Orchard.
LEFT: ACE Orchard manager Anthony Wachtel reviews 2026 harvest data in the dashboard.
BELOW: A close up look at the dashboard data captured during harvest.
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HARVEST at the Almond Centre of Excellence( ACE) is expected to be faster and safer, thanks to a new piece of machinery that’ s been added to the fleet. The ACE orchard staff trialled Inform Ag’ s loadcell this harvest and said it was a game changer. In previous years the crop from each trial treatment was loaded into bins and then weighed on scales. Now researchers can see the weight of each trial treatment within seconds
In A Nutshell- Spring 2026 Vol 27 Issue 3
of it being loaded into the reservoir cart, with the data being sent to a tablet.“ It used to take about 45 minutes to harvest a row and with the loadcell that’ s down to 15 minutes,” ACE Orchard manager Anthony Wachtel said. The equipment was calibrated 10 times and was found to be 97 per cent accurate.“ Feedback from the researchers was really positive, they are impressed that they can get the trial data so quickly,” ACE Orchard assistant manager Anna Eadie said. The tech support provided by Alex and Liz from Inform Ag was also appreciated.“ They were very patient and helped us with troubleshooting,” Anna said. The harvest results can be viewed in a dashboard, showing the date a row was harvested, the variety, the weight of the crop and the speed the pick-up was travelling at.