Last week, Hectre was invited to attend the Smart Orchard New Technologies Field Day at Hectre customer Washington Fruit’s Grandview smart orchard.
The field day was hosted by Innov8.Ag Solutions, Washington State University (WSU), and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission.
With the aspiration of creating the orchard of the future, the field day highlighted the “smart” orchard technology that is being developed by Innov8.Ag in collaboration with researchers from WSU and Oregon State University. Guest agritech companies such as Hectre were also invited to participate in the field day and share their innovative technologies.
Hectre Solutions Engineer Elizabeth Hargrave and Regional Sales Executive Omar Gomez attended the event, where they showcased Hectre’s computer vision AI fruit sizing tech – Spectre – and Hectre’s Orchard Management Software. Both Hectre’s Orchard Management Software and Spectre received much praise for their functionality and ease of use – or their “clever simplicity”, as we like to call it.
Elizabeth and Omar enjoyed the opportunity to talk with growers and other vendors about what is top of mind for them, what they are learning, and the challenges they are facing. Those challenges included the impacts from the particularly hot temperatures Washington experienced last year that damaged buds, and why this year’s harvest is late.
Hectre was one of about 20 vendors at the field day, which Elizabeth described as “an exciting way for growers to see a lot of new technology in one space and for academia and business to come together and learn about the research and how it can be mutually beneficial.”
Spectre, Hectre’s award winning computer vision AI fruit sizing tool, delivers massive size samples to growers and packers within seconds and just a simple iPad is required.
The leading-edge, yet simple to use technology is transforming the way apple, citrus and cherry growers and packers conduct post-harvest fruit size sampling.
“We also had a dozen students stop by our booth to learn more about what Hectre does. They’re focused on the science side for the most part, so it was cool to talk to them about the business side of things and orchard management.”
In addition to Hectre’s award winning technology, some of the other tech on display included Guss Automation automated sprayers, Soiltech Wireless sensor that transmits soil moisture and temperature data, and TreeToScope sensors that measure a plant’s water consumption in real-time.
“It was awesome to see how the technology is progressing and how people are working together. It seems like it is a type of collaboration that hasn’t happened before,” said Elizabeth.
“I would encourage everyone, whether they are new to the industry, new to technology, or already working with technology, to go and see what is happening. I think it is valuable for everyone,” she added.
Hectre is able to provide onsite demonstrations of Spectre fruit sizing computer vision AI for industry groups. If you have an event you would like Hectre to be involved with, please let us know.
