Modesto-area company unveils robot-aided nut harvester. It reduces labor and dust
Flory Industries has added a robot-aided model to the nut harvesters it makes in Salida.
The company teamed with Bonsai Robotics on what appears to be the first such machine in California.
The technology uses cameras and artificial intelligence to guide the rig down the orchard rows. It will save labor and reduce dust, President Todd Wille said in a Feb. 13 phone interview.
The machine is a sweeper, the second of the three harvest steps. The first shakes the nuts off the trees. The second spreads the crop to dry for a few days. The third loads it onto trucks bound for processing plants.
Bonsai is based in San Jose and has a test farm in Davis. The partners unveiled the sweeper at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, which ran Feb. 13 to 15. The price was not announced.
“At Bonsai, we are thrilled to partner with Flory, a company that shares our vision for the future of agriculture,” CEO Tyler Niday said in a news release.
Flory workforce has boomed
Flory is one of the leading manufacturers of equipment for almonds, walnut and pistachios. Most buyers are in California. The company exports machines to numerous nations around the world.
Flory reached about 570 employees with its acquisition last year of Custom Orchard Equipment, based in Sutter County. The deal allowed the Salida company to expand into fruit picking.
Valley residents contended for decades with dust from nut harvesting. It has been reduced though efforts by Flory and other industry leaders, including Exact Corp. and Jackrabbit Equipment in Stanislaus County. The latter two do not show robot-aided devices on their websites.
State stops short of driverless rigs
Flory’s new sweeper has a driverless option, but it is not yet allowed by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board. Monarch Tractor of Livermore has petitioned to lift the ban. The agency slowed the approval process at the behest of groups concerned about farmworker injuries if tractors go out of control.
Wille said that even without the autonomous feature, the robot-aided sweeper will save time during the hectic harvests and enhance the crop quality.
“Partnering with Bonsai Robotics aligns perfectly with Flory’s commitment to innovation in agriculture,” he said in the release.
