“This is an exciting time in the vegetable crop industry. A lot of research is under way to improve the economic viability of specialty crops by reducing farm labor requirements. Mechanization can help provide an economically-viable vegetable industry in the U.S., rather than losing production to other countries.”
What are the top mechanization needs for lettuce growers in the West? At the top of their list, a survey shows, are thinning and weeding machines to reduce labor requirements and production costs.
When specialty crop machine specialist Mark Siemens joined the University of Arizona (UA) staff at the Yuma Agricultural Center (YAC) in Yuma, Ariz., two years ago, he was charged with developing mechanization to make the specialty crop industry more economically competitive.
Siemens hit the ground running, meeting with vegetable growers and industry representatives to gather input about their mechanization needs. A follow-up survey asked them to rank their mechanization priorities.
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