[Market-farming] harvest rates

Fellenz fellenz at fltg.net
Wed Aug 1 14:21:48 EDT 2007


JOHN A HENDRICKSON wrote:
> Does anyone on this list have records or an idea of
> how many pounds a worker can pick per hour for the
> following crops:
>
> beans
> peas
> broccoli
> asparagus
> peppers
>
> and pints/quarts per hour for:
>
> strawberries
> raspberries
>   
I like to get about 15-20lbs/hr of bush beans.  This morning with the a 
picked over bean patch we did about 8 lbs/hour. 

For raspberries and strawberries it varies depending upon the time of 
season.  At their peak, I like 2+ flats (>16qts) of strawberries an hour 
and 2+ flats (24 1/2pt baskets) of raspberries.  I have my pickers pick 
clean with all waste berries picked and removed from patch.  The pickers 
get paid for all berries - good and bad that they pick and will get a 
deduction if they pick light (less than full baskets) or pick junk 
(baskets with good and bad mixed together).  I pay a piece rate for 
berry pickers, so it doesn't really matter to me how fast the pickers 
are going, but I do set the rate so that they can get a good hourly rate 
if they want to work hard. 

My pickers are usually high school kids and are much slower than 
professional pickers would be. 

Andy

>   



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