RESEARCH & EVENTS
ACE harvest update
https:// vimeo. com / 1064527781
Harvest is in full swing at the Almond Centre of Excellence orchard in Loxton at the moment.
THE Almond Centre of Excellence is a hive of activity at the moment. Harvest at the experimental and demonstration orchard started in early February, two weeks earlier than usual, as a result of the warm and dry conditions.“ We’ ve put a lot of work into training our harvest casuals. We’ ve got each of them driving multiple machines and we are pretty happy with how it’ s going,” ACE orchard assistant manager Anna Eadie said. At one point there were 25 people on site involved with harvesting trials, with ABA staff and the research teams all working together. The Almond Board of Australia, South Australian Research and Development Institute, Plant and Food Research Australia and the University of Adelaide run several Hort Innovation funded trials that are being harvested in 2025. Omnia and Stoller also have commercial trials at ACE which are being harvested this year.“ For us the most important thing is the trials, getting them out so we have confidence in their results,” ACE
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We ' ve put a lot of work into training our harvest casuals. We ' ve got each of them driving multiple machines and we are pretty happy with how it ' s going.
orchard manager Anthony Wachtel said.“ It pushes the harvest of non-trial trees back a little bit later.” Each trial is individually shaken, swept and harvested, with the almonds from each treatment taken and weighed in bins. Most of the researchers use the small scale huller that’ s based at ACE to crack out samples from the trials. These samples are then assessed for various quality characteristics. The findings will provide valuable insights for the industry, as researchers strive to showcase best management practices and new technology. This is the first harvest since the
- Anna Eadie, ACE Orchard assistant manager
permanent ACE office building was established and researchers have been able to use the lab / workspace.“ Everyone’ s been very impressed, it’ s nice and cool with practical facilities for researchers and staff to use,” Mr Watchtel said. Harvest at ACE is expected to continue into April.