In the fog drenched fields of California’s beautiful central coast, strawberry harvesting innovation is quietly at work. Glenn Noma of Tanimura and Antle, a premier strawberry grower for Naturipe Farms, watches over his solar powered harvester as it slowly inches down the strawberry rows. As a farmer, Glenn is always looking for new ways to improve his employee’s working conditions and the farm’s production efficiency. For years, diesel powered harvesting aids have been used to assist workers in lettuce fields throughout California. So when a local fabrication company came to Glenn with an idea to build a solar powered harvester for strawberry production, he jumped at the chance.  Glenn, who has a degree in Mechanical Agriculture, saw this as an opportunity to not only improve harvesting technology but reduce his operations carbon footprint at the same time.

In 2011, Glenn partnered with Valley Fabrication Engineering to help bring their idea to life – together they designed and developed a light weight solar powered harvester aid that would perform in the unique conditions of a strawberry field. This “Green” machine utilizes a golf cart battery powered by solar panels located on the roof, and a drive train lubricated with food grade vegetable oil. In addition to being very efficient, the aids are silent, odorless and highly mobile; which allows them to be moved easily to different fields across California’s central coast.

“We are thrilled with the positive impact the solar harvesting aid has made to our operation.  We definitely see this very versatile technology, expanding into other agriculture commodities and growing regions.” – Glenn Noma

The harvester features two ‘arms’ that extend out over several strawberry rows, and can accommodate up to sixteen harvesters. The arms carry a supply of cartons and serves as a receiving station for the full flat of strawberries. Unlike traditional harvesting, this innovative machine moves with the harvesters, eliminating the need for them to carry their packed cases back to the end of the row. In addition, these lightweight machines won’t compact the soil, leaving the strawberry fields undisturbed.

Glenn and his Naturipe colleagues are dedicated to sustainable operations and green innovations in their fields that minimizes their environmental impact, watch the video below to see the Solar Harvester in Action.