Developments in Technology and Automation for Tree Fruit

Tara Baugher and Katie EllisPenn State Cooperative Extension of

Adams County

Penn State Specialty

Crop Innovations

Ag Innovations Team

PSU FREC – Jim Schupp, Larry Hull, Henry Ngugi, Jim Travis, Greg Krawczyk, Lynn Kime, Edwin

Winzeler, Tom Kon

PSU Southeast Region - Tara Baugher, Katie Ellis, Jim Remcheck,

Student Interns

PSU State College – Rob Crassweller, Rich Marini, Paul Heinemann, Jay Harper

Comprehensive Automation for Specialty Crops

USDA-SCRISpecialty Crops Research Initiative

CMU, PSU, Purdue, OSU, WSU, USDA

Adoption of New Ag Technologies

8 yr lag to early adoption/15 yrs to full adoption From Alston, Norton, and Pardey Science Under Scarcity,1995.

Work EfficiencyAutomated Fruit Transport

and Bin Filling

Hand picking accounts for ~50% of total fruit production costs

Work Platforms with Harvest Capabilities

Photo by Sally Colby

Monitoring Insect Populations

Goals:– Automatically monitor orchard pest (moth)

populations with high spatial and temporal resolution

– Reduce costs associated with checking conventional traps

Detection of Plant Stress, Disease, and Insect Infestations

Input Images Detection Results

Autonomous Crop Load Scouting

Goals:– Better crop load measurements (more accurate

and less costly than manual approach)• Crop load measurements influence various orchard

management decisions (e.g., matching harvesting to orders; fertilizer, irrigation, pest control measures)

• Autonomous scouting enables orchard management decisions to be made in a more timely and accurate manner

Video Imaging of Peachesin cooperation with USDA AFRS/Purdue

Reconfigurable Mobility

Goal: develop reconfigurable vehicles that can be used for several functions, like spraying, mowing, harvest, pruning, and thinning- Research on accurate

vehicle positioning to georeference crop and environmental conditions

WeedSeeker®

United States Department of AgricultureNatural Resources Conservation Services

Conservation Innovation Grant

Brad & Bruce Hollabaugh

Brian JacquesDave & Shawn Garretson

Bill Gardenhour

Brian, Kevin, & Kyle Knouse Corey McCleaf Neil Starner Ed & Justin Weaver

Seth & Dan BoyerKen Guise/Dave Cox

Michael FlinchbaughTony & Terry Fetters

Field Laboratories on

New Training Systems

for Intensive Orchards

Narrow Vertical Axis

Vertical Axis Hedgerow

(4-Wire Trellis)

Peach Systems

Conventional Open Center

Perpendicular V

Hex V Quad V

Bird’s Eye View

Bird’s Eye View

Engaging Stakeholders

• Technology Adoption– Socioeconomic surveys– Value proposition

• Outreach• Feedback fromadvisory panel

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Penn State Cooperative Extension of Adams County

Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center

Penn State Departments of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Horticulture

www.cascrop.com