This entire thought process is why I struggle to empathize with the farmers all over my neck of the woods. I looked up some additional articles on Karstetter and his family. He prides himself on...
“The younger generation doesn’t aspire to be an apple picker,” Karstetter said
This entire thought process is why I struggle to empathize with the farmers all over my neck of the woods. I looked up some additional articles on Karstetter and his family. He prides himself on having bought up land over the years to give to his sons (around 3500 acres).
He doesn't want to be picking apples. He doesn't want his two sons to be picking apples. He wants those other people to want to aspire to be apple pickers. His sons should not aspire to be apple pickers, his sons should aspire to hire apple pickers. The family owns far more land than they are capable of dealing with by themselves and are concerned that the rest of the world is not as interested in helping them than it has been historically.
Yes, there's an important distinction here between farmers and farmworkers. Farmers are business owners. They're happy to invest in more labor-saving machinery if it works. They have plenty to do...
Yes, there's an important distinction here between farmers and farmworkers. Farmers are business owners. They're happy to invest in more labor-saving machinery if it works. They have plenty to do anyway.
far more land than they are capable of dealing with
Taking a historical perspective, that's always going to be relative to available technology. Agriculture has already gone far down the path of automating away most jobs. It's a very old trend; at one time most people were farmers. More agricultural land owned by fewer farmers is why we spend relatively little on food compared to other things.
(Unless you want to; there is fancy gourmet stuff. Also, lots of people do like picking fruit off their own trees. We got a lot of cherries this year. But that's a hobby.)
The understandable unwillingness of many people to work for low wages as migrant farmworkers (it's temporary work) is an incentive towards trying more automation as an alternative. Better wages and working conditions for farmworkers (also a good thing) are also an incentive for trying automation too. Even though many of these crazy agricultural innovations don't work well, the ones that succeed get widely adopted and that changes how food is grown.
(Clothing as well. Consider the history of cotton-growing and the historical changes due to technological improvements. At one time that was an enormous slave economy. Even with decent wages, it's a good thing nobody picks cotton anymore.)
From the article: [...] Here is the webpage about it on the Advanced Farm website. Tevel is another company doing this and they have some nice videos on their front page.
From the article:
The agricultural industry is feeling the strain of labor shortages due to stricter policies limiting the number of migrant workers, rising labor costs, and fewer young people pursuing careers in farming. To combat this problem, many commercial farmers are turning to robots.
“The younger generation doesn’t aspire to be an apple picker,” Karstetter said. “Right now … we’re treading water, trying to figure out how we can keep enough employees to get our crops picked until this technology evolves.”
[...]
California-based robotics company Advanced Farm is one of a handful of robotics companies conducting field tests in Central Washington. The company’s flagship robotic apple harvester is powered by a main computer that independently controls the motion of six surprisingly nimble arms.
Each arm is equipped with a suction cup on the end, which eliminates bruising during the picking process. Built-in cameras locate each apple and assess whether it’s ripe enough to pick. After all of the apples in a given area have been harvested, the robot moves forward and repeats the process.
Here is the webpage about it on the Advanced Farm website. Tevel is another company doing this and they have some nice videos on their front page.
This entire thought process is why I struggle to empathize with the farmers all over my neck of the woods. I looked up some additional articles on Karstetter and his family. He prides himself on having bought up land over the years to give to his sons (around 3500 acres).
He doesn't want to be picking apples. He doesn't want his two sons to be picking apples. He wants those other people to want to aspire to be apple pickers. His sons should not aspire to be apple pickers, his sons should aspire to hire apple pickers. The family owns far more land than they are capable of dealing with by themselves and are concerned that the rest of the world is not as interested in helping them than it has been historically.
Yes, there's an important distinction here between farmers and farmworkers. Farmers are business owners. They're happy to invest in more labor-saving machinery if it works. They have plenty to do anyway.
Taking a historical perspective, that's always going to be relative to available technology. Agriculture has already gone far down the path of automating away most jobs. It's a very old trend; at one time most people were farmers. More agricultural land owned by fewer farmers is why we spend relatively little on food compared to other things.
(Unless you want to; there is fancy gourmet stuff. Also, lots of people do like picking fruit off their own trees. We got a lot of cherries this year. But that's a hobby.)
The understandable unwillingness of many people to work for low wages as migrant farmworkers (it's temporary work) is an incentive towards trying more automation as an alternative. Better wages and working conditions for farmworkers (also a good thing) are also an incentive for trying automation too. Even though many of these crazy agricultural innovations don't work well, the ones that succeed get widely adopted and that changes how food is grown.
(Clothing as well. Consider the history of cotton-growing and the historical changes due to technological improvements. At one time that was an enormous slave economy. Even with decent wages, it's a good thing nobody picks cotton anymore.)
From the article:
[...]
Here is the webpage about it on the Advanced Farm website. Tevel is another company doing this and they have some nice videos on their front page.