Asparagus harvesting machine shows effectiveness

The effectiveness of an asparagus harvesting machine Kim Haws has spent nearly 40 years refining showed in the freshly cut field north of Pasco.

Haws knelt last week to examine the stump of a cut asparagus spear. It was surrounded by several shorter spears that weren't quite ready for harvest.

"That's tomorrow's crop," Haws said, pointing to the still immature spears.

The result was what Haws hoped to see last week as he tested the harvester at Six Sons Farms, owned by Bill Middleton and his son Keith.

Researchers from Washington State University were evaluating the machine's effectiveness compared with labor-intensive hand harvesting, which is how most asparagus is cut.

Data won't be ready for a month or so, but Carter Clary, WSU professor and research scientist, said, "It's looking good.

"If it can get about 70 percent (of what hand harvesters get) then it will even out economically," he said.

The goal of the machine is to cut and gather asparagus ready for market without damaging spears that aren't fully grown, Haws said.

The imposing green machine boasts a row of photoelectric sensors that can be adjusted to the desired height of the spears, 8 or 9 inches.

When a sensor detects a spear as it's driving down rows, it trips an arm with a large tonglike mechanism on the end. The tong closes on the spear and an attached blade cuts it.

The tong then releases the asparagus onto a conveyor belt -- complete with open slits to sift out dirt clumps -- that carries it up to the machine's main platform where workers can sort the crop.

The machine, which is the 15th prototype of the Haws Harvester, is getting close to going commercial, Haws said.

Since the harvest season only lasts a few weeks, there's only a small window of time for testing it each year, he said.

"Our job is to every year improve it and at the same time increase our know-how to make it economical (for farmers)," Haws said.

Sendy Ramirez of Pasco stood on the machine last week as at rolled down rows at about 4 mph. The speed at which the machine travels is another plus because it can cover more ground, Clary said.

She and Ruth Ramirez of Pasco also hand-harvested plots for the comparative WSU research.

"It's easier in the machine and faster," she said.

Hand harvesting still is more effective, Sendy Ramirez said, but it doesn't require the back-tiring work of chopping spears with a knife.

A worker cutting asparagus can harvest about three acres in a day, Keith Middleton said.

It takes about 55 workers to cut spears on the farm's 160 acres of asparagus. But the machine can cut 50 to 75 acres per day, Haws said.

"We're pretty impressed," Middleton said. "We're really hoping it will work out. It looks promising."

Using the machine for multiple harvests per day also would be an advantage, he added.

People generally only harvest the crop once daily and in the morning, but during hot weather spears can grow 6 to 8 inches a day and often some are ready to be harvested in the evening, Clary said.

The concept of mechanical asparagus harvesters date back to the early 1900s, according to a report Clary co-authored.

As labor costs have risen -- particularly in Washington where the minimum wage is the highest in the country at $8.55 -- and workers have become harder to find, interest in mechanizing harvest has risen again.

The purpose of the WSU study, which is in its fifth year, is to complete impartial evaluations of mechanical harvesters to present to the industry, Clary said. The study is funded by WSU's Agricultural Research Center.

Once the harvester runs through the fields, the Ramirezes go through behind it and pick up any spears that may have been dropped or damaged.

Then Chris Read, associate in research at WSU, assesses the spears and compiles data.

A field day for those in the industry will be Thursday. For more information, call the Washington Asparagus Commission at 266-4303.

As Haws drove the harvester up and down rows of asparagus last week, he stopped to explain the different technologies used in his invention.

The mechanically inclined Richland resident said the harvester started as a "fun challenge," but has evolved into a technologically diverse machine with about 20,000 parts, most of which he designed and created.

His son Joseph recently digitized the design, which Haws said was a major advancement for the harvester's accuracy.

The three-dimensional computer program simulates particular parts as well as the entire machine.

"I'm really not capable of taking it to this level without him," Kim Haws said.

Joseph Haws, 29, remembers sorting asparagus atop the machine when he was little and is excited by how it has developed over the years.

"It's part of my life," he said. "It's like a younger sibling."

Kim Haws also credited his wife, Susan, for her patience and support of his work on the harvester over the years.

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Information from: Tri-City Herald, http://www.tri-cityherald.com