Introduction
Have you ever wondered where all those delicious, juicy red watermelons come from that you buy at the grocery store? Especially those smaller ones that you can eat in one sitting and are just the perfect size to eat on a hot summer day? Kurt and his daughter Marissa got to visit Keith Harris’s operation in full swing and learn the background behind watermelon growing. Harris is no stranger to drip irrigation, but he recently decided to try subsurface drip irrigation. He installed SDI (subsurface drip irrigation) on a 144 Acres of watermelon, and a corn field as well.
A melon ready to leave!
Watermelon Operation
For those of us who come from the typical corn/soybean’s agriculture is always fascinated by those who grow different crops, but the operation to pick and deliver a good watermelon to you at the grocery store is quite the process.
The watermelon is planted in 3-foot-wide beds with a foot on each side of the bed. Biodegradable plastic is used to make the bed; surface dripline has been installed under the plastic covering. GroGuru moisture probes have been installed to know when irrigation is needed.
When it is harvesttime, two tractors with conveyor belts roll slowly through the fields; there are paths every 80 feets that the tractors drive along. Watermelon pickers will walk alongside, picking up the melons that are ripe and good, leaving the diseased or spotted melon. The conveyor belts bring the melons to someone up on the trailer who will stack them nicely. 12 trailers are pulled behind tractors. Once a trailer is full, it is hooked up to a pickup and brought to the shop. The melons are then slowly dumped onto a large table, moved onto a conveyer belt that only allows single file melons. They are sent through a washer, where they are cleaned with water and brushes. They are then sorted by size via a machine. The larger melons are placed in totes to be distributed to Costco, Walmart, and others. The smaller ones are placed in crates, and the smallest ones are put in bags. All the melons have stickers placed on them. Melons are picked, rain or shine, as there are always semis coming to pick them up.
Picking melons while walking alongside a conveyor belt.
Melons being washed.
The trailers the melons come back from the field on.
Unloading melons off trailer.
Boxes melons will leave in.
Crates melons will leave in.
Subsurface Drip Irrigation
This is the first year the Harris operation has used subsurface drip irrigation with some of their watermelon, and so far, they have been pleased with the results. We are looking forward to seeing yield data.
Conclusion
While we always enjoy seeing new-to-us operations, the biggest reason for what we do is being able to help growers such as Harris increase their yields and support their families.
