Harvest planning: The path to success for your orchard

Despite technological advances in recent years, the agricultural industry must continually overcome and master many variables in orchard management. 

On many occasions, it becomes difficult to predict with certainty the results and yield of the crops and, due to the high degree of uncertainty that arises in crop management, it is convenient that companies in the sector pay special attention to this aspect. .

For all this and more, harvest planning is crucial to getting the most financial benefit from investments. What does planning and managing the garden consist of? This article offers some information about this important management activity:

The secret to getting the most benefits from your harvest

It is very common for some companies to plan the management of their orchards seasonally, while others do not. However, as the variables of weather, availability of water for irrigation, or changes in market behavior, to name a few, fluctuate unexpectedly, forecasting and planning becomes increasingly difficult and inaccurate and even more so for those who do not plan anything.

It is for them that having systems that provide more first-hand information on these variables and on the crops per se, helps companies to be prepared and thus overcome unexpected changes.

When planning accurately and in a timely manner based on information, multiple benefits are obtained such as:

• Optimization of reaction times to changes.
• Saving of resources such as fertilizers, herbicides, transportation, materials and labor.
• Avoid unnecessary stocks.
• Avoid unilateral agreements with low bargaining power
• Optimization of land use by managing the previous rotation of plants in the case of crops.
• Prevention of profitability crises in the harvest, through previously stipulated budgets and investments.
• Substantial improvement in the health and growth and performance of plants.

It is recommended that the strategic and operational planning should not only be foreseen from the current season, but can be extended to three or four years in advance, in order to maximize the savings window and the correct management of resources.

How to achieve success with harvest planning?

The only way to really see the results of the planning under information sources is by faithfully following the plan during the established time and analyzing the results and changes that occur along the way, generating the appropriate modifications to adjust to the plan. That is why making the information visible to those in charge of the orchards is vital for the achievement of the goals, otherwise they will never be able to make the modifications that the fluctuating environment requires.

Today there are multiple ways to obtain and visualize this information, and it is not enough to take data, but rather it is necessary that these data become information that can be visualized by the decision makers of each company. Both large and small companies must adapt and evaluate which format will be most useful and efficient for them. 

It is true that in orchards with a greater diversity of crops, it is essential to have a more efficient management of the guidelines to be followed and the real data within them, however in all cases the monitoring of the planning and the ability to adapt to what that the information delivered does not say, only in this way is it fully guaranteed that the planning is fulfilled and the objectives set are achieved.