Tag Archives: CAC

Harvest 2016 – Chile

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This week, Pine Island once again hosted the Cranberries Austral Chile (CAC) post-harvest board meeting. CAC, located in Frutillar, Chile, was founded in 1993, and Bill has been president since 2008.

This year, CAC had their best harvest ever. “It’s the biggest crop we’ve ever had in Chile,” Bill says. “We beat our estimate by 30% and were 30% above our last record crop.” He and board member Victor Henriquez attribute the success to a number of things. “I think the weather helped,” Victor says. “With the weather so good, the bee activity was better than usual. But we’ve also made several improvements over the last year that certainly contributed.” Among them, he says, is that this year was CAC’s first use of the Gates Harrow, a machine that we’ve had great success with here at Pine Island. “We’re able to pick fruit faster and more efficiently, and it’s much better for the vines.”

Bill and Victor also attributed this year’s success to the hard work of Javier Ruiz. “Insects were a huge problem last year,” says Bill. “Javier put in a lot of effort improving the timing of fertilizer applications, irrigation, and frost management, as well as monitoring insect problems.”

Handling the pest issue was huge. The insect causing the biggest problem, Copitarsia Decolora, is a nocturnal insect, according to Javier. “We had to do a lot scouting at night to find it. This was found for the first time in November 2014, and we did some applications to control it.” The company then hired an entomologist from University La Frontera in Temuco City: Dr. Ramon Rebolledo. “He made a plan to work with us. We do the same scouting as in New Jersey, and we sent every worm and moth to him to identify them.

“In August 2015, we started to work with the UV lamp to catch the moths, started to scout bogs in September, and found the first worm in October. We also scouted to find eggs, which were found in late November and December. The eggs were kept in a small container to let them hatch, which they did in January, and this coincided with the second generation that was found in the bogs early January 2016. So we controlled those bugs and did not find any moths later. So if I am correct, we should not expect so much this year.”

Javier doesn’t think insect control alone was the sole factor, though he says it helped. “Treating for pests gave the plants good potential for this season. But this potential is not possible by itself. Frost control was very good. The weather was very exceptional during pollination, the nutrition and watering were done more according the weather than according to a calendar. Bogs got more Nitrogen than other years. There was very good weed and insect control. And the company has made very important improvements in irrigation and in drainage in the last few years, as well as better equipment and machinery. So bogs get better conditions and get what they need on time!”

So congratulations to the team at Cranberries Austral Chile for a record year! We’re proud to be affiliated with this hard-working team, and look forward to more reports as their new harvest year progresses!

Chile – sand screener

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Back in February, our equipment team was working to prep our old sand screener to ship it to our affiliate farm, Cranberries Austral Chile (CAC).

Ernie, who was the lead on the project, put in a lot of time making the necessary repairs for easy maintenance when it gets down to Chile. “We want to make sure it’s in great shape for those guys,” he said at the time. “…Basically, we’re going over it and making sure everything is right and that it’s running well.” He also mentioned that actually getting it into the shipping container was going to be a project in itself, and he was absolutely right!

Coco Mercado says, “We did a lot of prep work. All the bigger stuff wouldn’t fit inside the container, so we had to disassemble all the big pieces and make absolutely sure all fluids were drained in order to pass through Customs.” Supervisor Carlos Baez says it took the entire day to disassemble everything, but it is about ready to go! “It’s going to be a tight fit, I can tell you right now,” he says. “But I took a lot of pictures as we were taking everything apart, so once it arrives they should be able to put it back together pretty easily.”

Facilities and Equipment Manager Louis Cantafio is pleased the project is just about wrapped up. “The biggest challenge was getting the conveyor off, but the worst is over,” he says. “Once it gets down there, CAC has the bigger challenge in putting it back together!” CAC, however, has been fantastically helpful about project details. “I thought I would need to research shipping companies, but they have people they deal with all the time and took care of all the transport logistics; it was great.” He’s pleased that this project is wrapping up so the team can turn their attention to some other big projects: in addition to sending some other equipment down to Chile with the screener, the team is working on several maintenance and building projects right here at home. “We’re doing a lot of work on the pump houses making sure they stay in compliance, we got the new Hydremas, we had some involvement in the camp reno, and then we’re pouring bases for new pump houses and rebuilding engines for the bog renovation project. We have a lot going on!”

“But ultimately, CAC is going to be able to increase their efficiency in processing sand, and that’s a job well done for us,” Louis says. “My team always does whatever it takes to hit our targets.”

Wisconsin visit

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Last week, Pine Island’s CEO Bill Haines and COO Bryan vonHahmann, along with Cranberry Austral Chile GM Francisco Prado, flew out to Wisconsin to visit various members of the cranberry community in order to learn more about how the industry works in other regions and bring back their experiences to apply to our own operation in both New Jersey and Chile.

They spent two days with Leroy Kummer, a Sr. Agricultural Scientist with Ocean Spray and the Tomah Receiving Station Manager. “Leroy was with us for two days,” Bill says. “He put in a lot of time and effort to accommodate us, and knows the industry inside and out. He’s a valuable asset to both OS and the growers, and we were glad he was able to take us around.”

The group also visited six different operations, all of them “very impressive”, Bill says. Ed Grygleski of Valley Corp, Steve Gephardt of Beltz Cranberry, Bill Hatch and Nicole Hansen at Cranberry Creek, Chris Weidman of City Point Cranberries, Martin Potter at Cutler Cranberry, and Craige I. Scott and Craige P. Scott of Scott Cranberry Marsh were very generous with their time and knowledge, and all run an excellent operation. Francisco was particularly interested in this part of the tour: “We are in the middle of updating our equipment program [at CAC], so it was good to see what they are doing with things like fertilizer sprayers; our farm is growing, so we need to go faster!” It was very helpful to see farms at different sizes, as well, as it gives him a basis for comparison. “It’s a great opportunity,” he says. “There is always room to improve; there is always something to learn from other growers.” Bryan agrees: “Sharing ideas and practices can help us all improve, and it’s given us more energy and renewed focus on our mission.”

Our management team also spent some time at the Tomah plant, touring the Craisin line, and were impressed with the team there as well. “Andrea Gavette [Plant Manager at Tomah] gave us a really in-depth tour; Tomah is a well-run facility, and it was great to see her team so enthusiastic about what they do,” says Bill.

And, of course, Bill, Bryan, and Francisco always have an eye out for our own continuous improvement. As Bill says: “These growers are clearly the gold standard for the cranberry industry, and now we see what we have to do to be one of the best.”

*photos courtesy of Francisco Prado