. Cranberries; : the national cranberry magazine. Cranberries. more tips from the vines than did the original harvester. These results indicate that the 1983 modification may be used by growers to reduce harvesting injury without decreasing capacity or removing excess tips. If 5% more of the harvested berries are suitable for fresh market, a $ per 100 pound incentive for a 10,000 pound per acre yield would increase a grower's income by $ per acre per year. Increased income and higher quality cranberries reaching the consumer should encourage adoption of these machine changes. Current
. Cranberries; : the national cranberry magazine. Cranberries. more tips from the vines than did the original harvester. These results indicate that the 1983 modification may be used by growers to reduce harvesting injury without decreasing capacity or removing excess tips. If 5% more of the harvested berries are suitable for fresh market, a $ per 100 pound incentive for a 10,000 pound per acre yield would increase a grower's income by $ per acre per year. Increased income and higher quality cranberries reaching the consumer should encourage adoption of these machine changes. Current Developments The 1983 modifications have reduced harvest injury and maintained desirable attributes of the Furford Picker-Pruner. Additional improvements could be made to reduce berry injury in the bag and eliminate berry crushing by the elevator paddies, but these changes require major changes in the current machine or design of a new machine. Since September 1983 a group of students in the Agricul- tural Engineering Department at Washington State University have been designing a new cranberry harvester that minimizes harvesting injury. This machine should be built and ready for testing in the 1984 harvest season. Even with harvester redesign, some cranberry injury will continue to occur during harvesting and handling. Removal of injured berries and those with rot or other defects is critical for high quality fresh berries and long shelf life. To aid in efficient sorting of cranberries, a second group of agricultural engineering seniors is designing a system for detection and removal of cranberries with insufficient red color, rot or surface injury. The testing and development of a system of this type may take several years. Acknowledgements The harvester modification and testing work through the 1983 harvest season has been supported in part by the Washington State Cranberry Commission and contributions from individual growers, John C. Decas, and Ocean Spray Cranberries. This
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