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ABSTRACTThe profitability of wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) production using two alternative mechanical harvesters was evaluated under three different harvester ownership/service arrangements commonly used by farmers. Production data for the economic analysis were obtained from on-farm trials conducted in Nova Scotia, Canada. Net returns were CAD$323 ha−1 using a semi-automatic bin handling system compared with CAD$281 ha−1 for a small box handling system with outright harvester purchase. By comparison, net returns were CAD$90 ha−1 using the semi-automatic bin handling system and CAD$63 ha−1 using the small box system using rental harvesting services. The results are more sensitive to changes in yield than price.

Mechanical harvesters with small box and semi-automated bin handling systems are increasingly being used for harvesting wild blueberries in Eastern Canada, and Northeastern, USA. However, their field capacity and performance have not been quantified and compared. Important measures of field capacity and efficiency for a traditional mechanical harvester were compared with a novel semi-automatic bin handling harvester. Data were obtained from on-farm field trials conducted at four sites in Nova Scotia, Canada in 2017 and 2018. Both harvesters had double head configurations, along with other similar engineering configurations: (i) 0.66 m picking reels; (ii) 16 picker bars per head and 65 teeth per bar; (iii) 1.72 m picking width; (iv) 21 rpm head speed; and (v) 0.31 ms−1 ground speed. Each harvester was operated for 120 min and data such as berry harvesting time and box handling time were recorded, with six replications during each year. Statistical methods were used to compare the harvest efficiency of the two mechanical harvesters. Harvest time efficiency was significantly higher for the semi-automatic bin handling technology than for the small box handling technology both in 2017 (p < 0.001), and 2018 (p < 0.001). Weed coverage did not have a significant effect of harvest time in either 2017 (p = 0.694) or 2018 (p = 0.765), though it did significantly affect yield in both 2017 (p = 0.011) and 2018 (p = 0.045). The findings provide useful insights for decision-makers contemplating the choice of harvesting technology to sustain profits from wild blueberry production.