GTL Europe’s tilting bed system. At Pilzland Schwaigern, visited during the recent BDC meeting, a pinning room built by GTL-Europe is filled in the usual way.
transferred to the harvesting rooms when the mushrooms are ready. At Nesco, there is no winch-over system but the beds are moved from the pinning rooms over a large bridge. The offers the advantage of not being tied to a fixed, four-week cropping cycle and allows three flushes. At Deckers, all the growing rooms feature tilting shelves, so pinning and harvesting is done in the same room. At Bilsland in Schwaigern, the beds in separate pinning rooms are filled with compost and casing from a filling hall, then moved to the harvesting room with tilting shelves after 13 days. Jack Lemmen from GTL also spoke at the BDC Jahrestagung. His presentation mainly focused on the packing and further processing of mushrooms. “If you’re talking about an existing farm, in collaboration with Limbraco, we showed at René Voet’s farm that with a relatively simple adjustment you can still use our picking platform to pick onto a conveyor, using both hands to increase the speed. That’s what these develop-
The centre of gravity of the GTL-Europe tilting shelves means they can be tilted with minimum effort.
ments are all about: significantly boosting the efficiency and productivity of pickers. But we have to think in terms of packing solutions, removing mushrooms from the conveyor and placing them in punnets or trays. It therefore makes sense to simplify the picking process itself as far as possi- ble, using both hands, and then transport the mushrooms from the room for further processing. We already use a system of fingers underneath the conveyor to roll mushrooms into a punnet. But we now have a machine with suction cups. The challenge is clear: the right weight, different packaging, graded to size, correct presentation, simplicity, low investment, speed and possibly linked to a central system. That’s quite an ask, but we believe we can answer the need with a machine that can grade four different sizes. We’re also thinking about a mushroom picking robot, and we expect to make progress with Teochew Robotics and their suction-cup technique.”
www.gtl-europe.nl
Lemmen: ‘It
makes sense to simplify the
picking process
as far as possible, using both hands, and then
transport the
mushrooms from the room for further
processing’
A pinning room from GTL at Schwaigern.
The harvesting rooms according to the vision of GTL Europe with tilting shelves and belts with double openings at Schwaigern. See also front page photo.
Conclusion It is almost impossible to already have a clear preference for a par- ticular solution. All the companies discussed here are modern and professional, with skilled engineers and dedicated teams to con- struct new or modify existing systems. The solutions for the future are all very similar in scope: grow in a standard growing room and look for automated solutions in harvesting and further processing of mushrooms. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, a lot depends
on the specific situation at a farm, and whether it is a new build or a current set up. That’s why prices have not been mentioned, as each investment will be different due to the wide range of circumstances. Everyone is more than willing to contribute to devising and deve- loping solutions, and naturally the systems are still evolving and maturing. Developments are certainly not at a standstill and driven by spiralling personnel costs and labour shortages, they are advan- cing faster than ever. Interesting times indeed!
MUSHROOM BUSINESS 43
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