Researchers are constantly working to help farmers speed up work in the field, and one of the ways they're doing this is with new technologies.
For strawberry farmers and growers, farming is about working smarter, not harder. That's something Will Kraemer, a field engineer for the California Strawberry Commission, is helping accomplish for local strawberry growers.
“This machine will give them another tool in their toolbox,” Kraemer said of his Heated Hole Puncher.
When it comes to farming strawberries, it takes hours of work that’s all done by hand.
“Originally, they would burn holes by hand. Maybe one worker would do one to two acres a day and this machine would do about one-and-a-half to two acres an hour,” Kraemer said.
On Thursday, Kraemer got to show off his hard work at the Cal Poly Strawberry Center Field Day on Thursday.
The Heated Hole Puncher was designed and built together with the California Strawberry Commission and the Cal Poly Strawberry Center.
“The tractor drives through the field and it's all mechanical. As the tires rotate, it is geared so that the burning cups go down and touch the plastic at the desired spacing. The grower can change it to whatever spacing they want,” Kraemer explained.
He says it speeds up the process, making the spacing between holes more consistent, and reduces the risk of a worker burning their leg with a torch.
It’s been a work in progress since 2022.
“We had a grower come up and express his interest and need for hole burning to be done in the Salinas area because they were doing it all by hand,” Kraemer said.
The annual Cal Poly Strawberry Center Field Day is a way for growers from all over the state to check out new technologies like Kraemer’s.
“We have seen investments that have resulted in millions of dollars saved out in the fields,” said Jeff Cardinale, California Strawberry Commission Director of Communications.
Kraemer hopes his new machine will help many local growers.
“We hope to have five to ten of them this season so growers can purchase and hopefully use this season,” he said.
