Category Archives: General

Crowning dams – new equipment

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We’ve posted before about the new scraper we commissioned over the winter. Over the past couple of weeks, our team finally got a chance to put it to work.

While our team had tested it after arrival, last week they put the new land leveling blade attachment to work on the renovations at 11 Acre and Benny’s. “The land leveler we already have is great, but it’s getting worn out,” explains Facilities/Equipment manager Louis Cantafio. “We like the model we have, but it’s been discontinued. So when we commissioned the new machine, we decided to make it multifunctional and did some re-purposing. We made the new blade straight and a fixed width, as opposed to the crowning blade, which is curved and able to be expanded if necessary. We also made it wider than the old leveler.”

“As part of the project we put a laser receiver and electronically driven valve on the tractor to make leveling easier,” Louis says. “The tractor had one before, but it was just the indicator. Now the operator can just pay attention to driving while the laser and the controller communicate and make necessary corrections. Plus, the wider blade helped us get the edges of the bog, which previously had to be done after the main leveling was finished. Speed and communication have helped us get the leveling done forty percent faster, which is huge.”

So far the team has had to change the blades twice: once to put on the new leveling blade and once to put the crowning blade back on. In both instances it took the team about 45 minutes to make the conversion. “It was a little bit of work, but we’ll get better at it,” Louis says. “The time we spent is a worthwhile investment. And as it turns out, it works very well. We had to do some custom modifications to make it work and they turned out fine.”

Team member Junior Colon, who is scraping dams this week, agrees. “The wider blade on the crowner makes things a lot easier,” he says. “There were some new controls to learn, but once you pick it up everything’s great. The whole thing tilts, which makes it easier to smooth things out, and having the ability to expand or retract the blade is a huge help. Once you know which dam you’re on and what it needs, it works out perfectly.”

Facilities Update – June

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One of the goals of our Equipment and Facilities program is to have all facilities and equipment ready when needed and to develop maintenance plans that will prevent costly downtime. The team is always looking for ways to improve upon their efficiency.

One of the current projects is re-tooling the new scraper for use in bog renovation. Originally commissioned for crowning dams, it was designed for maximum project flexibility. As we are about to move into the next stage of our latest bog renovation project, it was the perfect time to build a wider fixed blade for this machine in order to help with the land leveling at 11 Acre and Benny’s.

The other ongoing project is improving the driveway and parking area at the shop and ICM building. “We never did finish grading when we took the floater building down,” says Facilities/Equipment Manager Louis Cantafio. “We just made sure it was high enough to get through the winter. But part of our capital improvements projects this year includes adding gutters to our new buildings: the buildings housing the the pickups and the dump trucks as well as the one by the packing house. Part of that will also include running the downspouts under the surface in order to direct water flow toward the ditches.” In order for that to happen, the finished grade needs to be perfect. “Once the truck traffic starts coming through, you don’t want to find out the hard way that the drainage is too close to the surface,” Louis explains.

“Adding gutters and new downspouts as well as regrading the parking area are some of the ways we make our work area nicer,” says Louis. “It looks nice, and it will decrease the need for maintenance in the future, keeping our driveways in more professional condition so they don’t require as much work.” While there are no plans to pave the parking area, we will likely be paving some of our more highly trafficked roadway entrances.

Finally, we improved the airstrip that we maintain for our fertilizer applications. This will kick up a lot less dust, making things easier for everyone involved!

Joan Davenport: May visit

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It’s once again the time of year Pine Island gets a visit from Dr. Joan Davenport of Washington State University. Joan, a former researcher for Ocean Spray, works with Pine Island Cranberry to provide guidance on fertilizer, water, and nutrients, as well as general PIICM management. Joan comes to see us in the spring during the bloom period and again in the height of summer to discuss fertilizer needs for bud set.

A high priority for her May visit this year was discussion about changing some of our renovation processes in order to increase efficiency and eventually, increase yield. CEO Bill Haines and our PIICM team sat down with Joan to discuss some ideas. Bill’s #1 question: could Pine Island put sand on renovated beds instead of our usual process of stripping topsoil, grading the subsoil, and then re-grading the topsoil? Some of the reasons for considering this include drainage: proper drainage has been our biggest problem in the efficient establishment of renovated/new bogs. In addition, some of the soil (deep muck/peat) at Sim Place makes renovation slow, complicated, and expensive. The goal is to create a homogenous planting medium to simplify management of water and nutrition.

Joan agreed that it could work; growers in Wisconsin have had some success with this method. The idea is to put on 12 inches of sand, which covers half of the rooting depth. Sand is a uniform medium for drainage. The issue is what kind of sand to use, as there can be a problem with using mixed sand: even a small amount of silt or clay can cause a sealed surface layer. The top two inches would need to be clean coarse sand to prevent us from needing to go back and fix the problem. The big advantage here is that we won’t need to worry as much about the quality of the subsoil, as long as the top layer is good quality.

After some discussion, the team went to various locations at both Sim Place and on the home farm to look at various types of soil. This, as Joan says, was “the fun part!” The tour finished at our latest home farm renovation project at 11 Acre/Ben Haines.

Joan finished her visit with us on the following day with a walkthrough to make nutrition decisions for our established beds. As always, the amount of fertilizer to be applied is determined by variety, soil conditions, and past practices, requiring constant evaluation of current conditions, history, and trends. Nutritional needs are different for young vines as opposed to established plantings, as well. We’re glad to have such a fantastic opportunity to help us get better at what we do!

Downstown fertilizer trials

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This week some Pine Island team members went to Downstown Aero Crop Service for an application clinic. This clinic is recommended for aviation crop services in order to give the operators and their pilots the opportunity to test their equipment with a trained analyst to help interpret the information and to recommend changes to improve performance.

The main intent of this program, which was sponsored in part by the National Agricultural Aviation Association, is to improve “economy of operation and application, as well as an increase in safety and reduced health and environmental concerns.” As we are in the middle of our growing season and thus concerned with applying the correct amount of nutrients via fertilizer application, this is highly beneficial to Pine Island’s Integrated Crop Management program: one of the keys to our PIICM program is giving vines the nutrients they need, when they need it. The amount of fertilizer to be applied is determined by variety, soil conditions, and past practices, requiring constant evaluation of current conditions, history, and trends, and we are always searching for ways to become even better.

The morning was spent testing calibration for both accuracy and drift. “The control of the droplet size is the best thing we have to combat drift,” says Dennis Gardisser of WRK Services of Arkansas. “In the workshops, we show applicators how to configure aircrafts so they develop precise droplet sizes.” Droplets that are too fine can drift or evaporate, and droplets that are too large may reduce the coverage, in turn reducing crop yields by a significant amount.

Downstown is a great outfit to work with, and our team was impressed by their willingness to basically audit themselves in front of an audience mainly composed of their clients. “They put themselves under review to show us how they can do things even better,” says COO Bryan vonHahmann. “It’s ultimately about efficiency. When they’re more efficient, we’re more efficient, and ultimately that helps us to become better growers.”

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ICM building

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In keeping with our core value of continuous improvement, our Integrated Crop Management team moved into their new office this week! Previously, our ICM team did not have a central area to store equipment or hold meetings, but the old office space turned out to be a perfect location to consolidate. Facilities/Equipment manager Louis Cantafio explains: “We don’t like to leave anything unused. As one of the original farm buildings, it has some sentimental value as well as plenty of office and storage space for anything the team might need.” As part of the renovation, the building was re-sided with Pine Island cedar that we had cut here and milled for us.

The interior was also redone to increase efficiency. There is now room to spread out and one central location for research, storage, and records. It also acts as the control center for the many tasks the team needs to perform during the growing season. The building was also added onto the fiber line that connects the shop to the main office server as well as set up for WiFi in order to make the most out of the team’s new tech.

One of the team’s current top priorities is scouting. ICM team members Matt Giberson and Michael Haines spent the week looking at stages of growth and making determination for when to add fertilizer, roughneck fertilizer, or both. “We have to get down in the bog and look at everything,” Matt says. “It’s quick, only about five or ten minutes, but we get out in the middle and check for growth stages and later, bugs. It’s a little too early for pest damage right now; that’ll be later.” A lot of fertilizer application is a waiting game, he says. “We could apply tomorrow, but we want to see what Mother Nature brings us first; we don’t want it washing out.”

Our team is also using new technology to assist with other issues. A big problem in New Jersey cranberry beds is fairy ring, a disease that leads to root rot and fruit rot and remains difficult to control. Dr. Peter Oudemans of Rutgers University has spent the past few days testing fairy ring treatments on some of our cranberry beds, and his team is mapping the beds using aerial photos obtained by a drone. “Previously, it was done by satellite, which was time-consuming in many ways,” he says. “But now we’ll just launch the drone and land it in the bogs, using remote control. It will map out where the fairy rings are; we’ll do it a few times through the season.We’re trying different treatments for each section. After they get treated we can remap, see what plots are working, what plots aren’t.”

Safety targets

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Safety is one of our ever-present goal at Pine Island Cranberry. We hold regular meetings to keep everyone updated and to issue any necessary equipment.

“Safety is first”, says Equipment/Facilities manager Louis Cantafio. “It’s our number one priority. In addition to having and using the necessary equipment, we always have to pay attention to what we’re doing. Out here, you’re working in a remote area, and it’s always a good thing to have another set of hands.” Our current safety target is to hit a full year without an incident, no matter how small. So when CEO Bill Haines noticed last week that we had hit 200 days (coincidentally, the same day our ICM team finished some safety certifications), he thought we should all celebrate…and the entire team gathered at the shop for some pizza!

“Safety is important for everything we do,” Bill said. “We spend a lot of time talking about our core values, but we’re not going to be the most efficient cranberry grower in the world if we don’t take care of ourselves as well as we take care of everything else on the farm. Beyond that, one of those core values is about giving people opportunity. Not just opportunity to grow and develop and be better, but also to be healthy so that they can actually enjoy what they do. It’s a worthwhile goal. And we’re here right now because everybody in this room has been paying attention, taking care of themselves, and taking care of each other.”

COO Bryan vonHahmann agrees: “In a rapid environment that challenges our team physically and mentally, we need to keep safety top of mind. We want our employees to return to their homes and families in the same condition that they came to the farm in. We truly value their safety and work hard to do the right thing.”

Ribbon cutting – Ocean Spray Lehigh Valley Facility

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This week, CEO Bill Haines and COO Bryan vonHahmann drove to the dedication of Ocean Spray’s new Lehigh Valley bottling plant. Under construction for two years, the new facility, which will replace the one in Bordentown, will employ about 180 people and handle about 40% of their North American juice production.

Ocean Spray also throws a heck of a party. Not only did they give everyone a fabulous breakfast, but Justin and Henry were there to say hello!

Before the ribbon-cutting, CEO Randy Papadellis explained: “Ocean Spray is essentially run as a family business, committed to bringing a neighborly culture to every community that we enter. We manage our business in a way that respects our communities, our employees, and the environment.” Engineer Erich Fritz, who oversaw the design and construction, and Tim Haggerty, plant director, went on to explain some of the ways Ocean Spray is committed to making that happen, including a “no landfill” policy, recycling all waste, and relying on hot water rather than steam for energy.

The highlight, of course, was a tour of the new plant. The growers in attendance were able to see almost every feature of production, and there is nothing about the place that is unimpressive, from the impeccable organization to the innovation to the employees who make it all happen. Pine Island COO Bryan vonHahmann was very taken with the place. “As a cooperative member, it is great to see first hand, the end product of a significant investment in our future. The facility, equipment, technology, and people are all first class,” he says.

CEO Bill Haines agrees: “The new plant is very impressive, and it’s great for all Ocean Spray growers. It’s going to make them more efficient, and better efficiency means better returns for growers. Getting a tour of the new facility, seeing that it is state of the art and totally organized, and meeting the people who built it and actually make it work made me very proud to be an Ocean Spray grower.”

Staying on target

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Spring seems to finally be here for the duration, and our team has finished taking off the winter flood and installing sprinklers. Now, as GM Fred Torres says, “it’s time to focus on growing.” The first seasonal crew has also arrived to help, and as always, we are glad to have them back.

With the warmer weather, of course, come the cooler nights, and as we talked about last week, it’s important that we get the systems ready for our frost team. Our team has been hard at work testing all the systems to make sure they’re ready for the long, cold nights. “Understanding the cost to run the sprinklers and the added stress to the team, it’s an amazing sight to see the sun rising in the background of hundreds of acres of sprinklers working,” says COO Bryan vonHahmann, who is in the middle of witnessing his first growing season. “That sight, along with the understanding that the buds are being protected, is what gets everyone through the night!”

The ICM team is already hard at work scouting growth stages to help determine the temperature at which the frost team should start the sprinklers. They’ve also started their applications; all the one and two year old bogs got their first shot of fertilizer this week.

Last but not least, our latest bog renovation project is going full steam ahead! The old vines have been removed, and the new PVC gates have been installed, replacing the old wooden gates that have been there for years.

The bog reno team has been taking out all the small ditches and starting the land leveling, which will make it a lot easier to flood. As manager Joe Colon pointed out late last year, the previously existing sand layers will make putting in new topsoil easier. “We’re not going to have to do as much with that as we did out at Sim Place.” But as you can see, it’s still keeping him busy!

Bryan has truly become a part of the team and sums things up very neatly: “Bog renovation is critical to us achieving our mission and continuing our tradition of excellence by growing more high-quality cranberries at the lowest cost per barrel.”

Frost prep: water management

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The main concern for the crops at Pine Island Cranberry has always been the water: where is it coming from, and where do we want it to go? But in between, our team also has to make sure the water is being conveyed properly and returned in better condition than we found it. Which means the next job after the winter flood is removed becomes cleaning the irrigation systems.

Foreman Kelvin Colon was out at Sim Place this week making sure everything was in tip-top shape. “Getting everything ready for frost is the priority right now,” he says. During a night on frost, it may sometimes be necessary to repair the sprinklers, as they won’t run at full capacity if something is blocking the line. This happens more frequently when the systems first start running, and becomes less of an issue after a few cold nights. Checking for issues ahead of time helps our frost team be more efficient in attending to the crop overnight.

The procedure itself is basic, though it takes some time. Supervisor Matt Giberson explains: “We turn on the system and let it run for a while. We’ll clean out the nozzles, see where we need to make repairs, and turn the system back on to make sure the repairs worked.” Running the system for a bit also helps the team make sure that any potential engine problems are taken care of by the Facilities/Equipment team.

It’s also a chance to see how the drainage is working in some of the beds and to decide if installing new underdrain is necessary. New ditches were dug at Fishhead and Harrison last fall in order to improve the soil quality, and it seems to be helping. “We were going to go through with a trencher, but it looks like the new drains are helping,” Matt says. “The water moving through is pushing out the dirt that settled in over the winter, as well.”

Spring tasks

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It seems the warmer weather is here to stay for a bit, and it’s once again time for Pine Island Cranberry to begin spring tasks. Our team started removing the winter flood and installing sprinklers about two weeks ago, and so far are on target. Good water management is absolutely critical to growing cranberries; growers rely on a clean, abundant supply to maintain the bogs year round. So water remains a top priority in all things.

When the warmer weather sets in, the bogs are drained so that the dormant vines awaken for the growing season; while cranberries are most frequently harvested using the “wet pick” method, they do not actually grow under water and thus need to go through the same growing cycle as any other fruit crop. The process is deceptively simple: a team member removes the boards that have been placed across the gate in the bog. (The boards are removed in a specific pattern to work with gravity and the natural flow of the water.)

In the meantime, the team is also installing sprinklers. “We take the water off for installation, but if it’s too early the water goes back on once we’re done,” explains supervisor Gerardo Ortiz. “But it’s important that we get everything finished before frost.”

The ICM team always removes water from new production first so they can see what needs to be done. This year, they found a few issues. “This past November was the first time we’ve planted this many acres in the fall using rooted cuttings,” says PIICM manager Cristina Tassone. “We planted thirty acres before putting on the winter flood; when we removed it, a lot of the plants in the first three bogs had come out.” This meant putting “all hands on deck” for about four days to get everything replanted before the plants dried out.

“Now that the replanting is done, we need to work on causes and preventive measures,” Cristina says. “Did we flood too quickly? Did the rooted cuttings not have a chance to ‘grab on’? Was it a soil issue? Planting depth? We’ve recorded everything, tracked the area, and now we can go back to see what we need to change next time and work on it before the next fall planting.”

Growing cranberries can have some obstacles, but it’s how we handle them that counts: our team, as always, is willing to do whatever it takes to get us where we need to be!