US: Lettuce thinner helps overcome labor shortage
A tractor called the lettuce thinner, developed by Frank Maconachy, president and CEO of Ramsay Highlander, seems to do the task a well as the workers. This is coming as a relief to growers who are experiencing a shortage of labor thanks to border regulations.
The tractor uses a vision system to locate seedlings, then sends their location to the tractor’s computer, which determines which seedlings to keep and which to get rid of. With a shot of fertilizer, it destroys the unwanted seedlings. In just a few minutes, a whole row of lettuce is thinned, and it only takes one robot.
Maconachy's company’s latest design is a robotic picker that finds a head of lettuce and picks it. This robot relies on a similar vision system as that of the lettuce thinner.
The cost of the lettuce thinner starts at $250,000, and some farm machines cost as much as $600,000.
There is a worry, however, that smaller farms, that cannot afford the machines, could fall behind larger operations.
Source: thedailymeal.com
