Grape harvest has finally arrived

[Robert_in_NY]

After a long wait, grape harvest has went into full speed in Western New York. The colder then usual weather this year wouldn't let the grapes ripen on time so the last couple days the farms have finally started harvesting the concords. This is a picture of my neighbors grapes being picked. The picker is a on demo from Larry Romance and Sons and is a Braud/New Holland SB65. The farmer using it is considering buying it to replace the Chysolm Ryder they currently own and the $130k price tag doesn't seem to bother them just if they can trade their Chysom in on it is the only hang up. Anyway, the tractor is a Same Frutteto 75. There is also a New Holland TN 75F parked next to me waiting as I took this picture. This is a small farm and belongs to the harvesters drivers dad. Only 4 acres of grapes here.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Pic of the harvester

 

[gsganzer]

That's pretty cool. Having never witnessed it, I guess I assumed the grapes were picked by hand. It's amazing the equipment that derives from ingenuity. How does it get the grapes off the vine? Shake them?

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Here is a picture of the guts of a Korvan 3016 harvester. You can see the beaters that gently shake the vines. The grapes fall off onto the tray at the bottom which is a bunch of individual disc that pivot around the vines and post to keep the grapes from falling to the ground. They go into the buckets on the sides and up to the top of the harvester where they are augered over to the right side where they go up to the main auger and over into the crates on the trailer.

 

[BigIron]

Geeze, I'm jealous. Our concord grapes were drown in about 120 feet of water, with temperatures that ran 30 degrees below normal, and only about 10 hours worth of sunlight all summer. Even the blossoms withered on the vine :-(

This is usually one of life's simple pleasures that I look forward to each year.

Paul

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Things are not too peachy up here though. Prices are down, sugar is down but the crop is up just extremly late to ripen and now the bad weather is getting close. Most of the corn has froze in the hills already and the farmers are trying to get their silage in when they can almost start shelling already. All their silage corn is dead now and the moisture is way down because of the freeze. Now we have 40mph winds till tomorrow night which will take care of some more crops. This year has not been good for a lot of farmers all over the country. Sorry to hear about your crop, did insurance cover any of it?

 

[BigIron]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Sorry to hear about your crop, did insurance cover any of it? )</font>

It's just my own private 'crop'. No financial loss, but I look forward to the garden crops I harvest each year as a short respite from 'store bought' vegetables and fruit we have to tolerate the rest of the year. I have never found any fruit or vegetable bought from the local store that could hold a candle to 'vine ripe'. That's just a culinary hardship, however, and nothing compared to the hardships you sound like you are having to endure. Sorry to hear mother nature has not been cooperating up north.

Paul

 

[Robert_in_NY]

That is true about store bought products. What gets me is apples. I have never found a store bought apple to have any flavor. They are all tasteless. I would get homegrown produce over store bought any day. Good luck and have fun.

 

[farmerpsv]

Hey Robert,
great post. yeow /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif, 130k for 4 acres?
i do a small organic market garden and can't imagine that one. it is a great looking machine though.
paul

 

[BigIron]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( That is true about store bought products. What gets me is apples. I have never found a store bought apple to have any flavor. They are all tasteless. I would get homegrown produce over store bought any day. Good luck and have fun. )</font>

My son-in-law comes from a fairly large farm in Iowa. They raise cattle and crops, but swear they make the payments on the John Deeres with profits from their hydroponic tomatoes. I was stationed in Guam for two years (stop laughing!), and those were the only kind we ever got (couldn't get a tomato to set fruit in Guam if your life depended on it) and swore I would never eat another for the rest of my life. His folks *swear* they taste as good as anything that come out of a normal garden if you pick one that is vine ripe. I may have to go visit them one day, just to see if they 'measure up'!

Paul