Long-time readers of the blog will remember that “continuous improvement” is one of our core values here at Pine Island Cranberry. (First-timers will quickly pick up on this, as well.) Part of that continuous improvement includes dam maintenance. On a cranberry farm, dams serve two purposes: to detain the water used for irrigation and water management, and for vehicle use.
Dam maintenance is highly important for both safety and equipment. “During last year’s Labor Day storm, we had water coming over the dam on this side of Little Meadow,” says GM Fred Torres. “It was lower than the main side along Jonathan Wright [one of our big reservoirs]. We couldn’t get the water down fast enough and had to breach the main dam to get it down. Raising this one over here will help if that ever happens again.”
The procedure is the same as it was when we made some necessary repairs at Ox Pasture this past winter. A team member picks up a load of sand in their dump truck, then hauls the load back to the dam and drops it in front of a bulldozer.
Team member Wilfredo Pagan then uses the laser to get the level he want and keeps going. Once he puts sand down and pushes to get it where he wants it, he comes back at an angle in order to “crown” the dam. Then team member Mickey Mercado follows on a roller to smooth the crown.
Fred says there are targets for this, the same as everything else. “We have everything mapped out: the ones we did in 2012 are in red, the ones for this year are in blue, and the ones planned for next year are green. We’re on target to finish all 7.36 miles by harvest. Next year’s target is 7.26 miles.” The targeted dams are usually the most heavily travelled ones. Some dams are really only used during harvest, and if they get any ruts in a heavy rain, it’s usually fine. But the ones everyone uses most can deteriorate quickly, pushing out both water and sand; proper maintenance now is much more efficient than trying to fix the problem later. “The main dam at Jonathan Wright is a good example,” Fred says. “We crowned it a few years back, and now just touch it up with a dozer a couple times a year, or run the scraper the width of it. All that rain in June and July and everything is still okay; it makes a real difference. Ten years ago, it would have washed out all the time and we would have to touch it up, add some gravel. This is better.”
Our team is also making big improvements over at the Oswego bog renovation. In addition to crowning the dams, our team has been busy widening the dams in some areas. “We’re trying something new,” Fred says. “In this area, we have eight, sometimes nine trucks over here during harvest. Each truck can carry two boxes. But! If we use a tractor trailer, it has nine boxes on it. With three drivers for three tractor-trailers, we won’t need to use as many trucks. It will be more efficient for both the gathering team and the packing house. And it frees up team members to be elsewhere if we need them.”
“We’re doing this all along the main dam behind Oswego so we can take the trucks all the way out to the side road,” Fred adds. “Wherever a trailer might need a wider space, we’ve made it happen.” This includes building a 40 foot pipe gate at a couple of the wider turns. Ultimately our team is willing to do whatever it takes, as always, in order to keep doing what we do: growing more acres and more fruit per acre.
