Preventing growers from losing money due to bad weather

North America's West Coast is a critical region for the production of fresh fruits and vegetables. However, growers are increasingly faced with the impact of heat, rain, wind, and insects. In Canada's Okanagan Valley for instance, cherry growers didn't see a full crop between 2018 and 2024. Crop losses were caused by heat domes as well as extreme cold snaps, decimating cherries and other tree fruit crops. Fortunately, the region enjoyed a record crop this year as a result of more favorable weather conditions. However, farmers know a year like this is rare and after years of losses, they want to prepare for the years to come.

Retractable roof
Growers and scientists are increasingly looking at ways for orchards to adapt to a change in climate. Not just in Canada, but in different parts around the world, government research centers are considering climate resilience in their research projects moving forward. Retractable roof company Cravo Equipment is working with the Australian government on building a retractable roof system over a cherry orchard in Victoria. At the same time, plans are in the works for Cravo and Agriculture Canada to build a retractable roof system at a Research & Development site in British Columbia.

Protecting an orchard from rain or heat requires significant investments for growers. Years of losses make these investments even more challenging. "Understandably, growers want to see how a potential solution works before they make the investment," says Richard Vollebregt, President of Cravo Equipment. "With government research centers now starting to build trial sites, growers will get a better understanding of the impact a retractable roof system has on their revenue. They want to learn about the return on investment as it will support them in making a better decision," Vollebregt said.

Improve quality and timing
The system that will be trialed is a retractable rain shelter system, called AutoDry™. It responds automatically to changing weather by covering an orchard crop in minutes and protecting the crop from rain, hail, cold, heat, and wind. The system's enhanced heat retention capabilities make it possible to optimize temperature and humidity. "This allows growers to increase their yield and quality, resulting in larger, firmer, and sweeter fruit. In addition, harvest can be enhanced or delayed, allowing growers to hit premium price windows more often."

Solving both heat and rain has been difficult or financially not feasible as existing retractable roof solutions that could protect crops from rain and heat were too expensive for many crops "With AutoDry, we've developed the lowest cost retractable roof system in the world to protect large areas from rain," Vollebregt said. The system is suitable for field and orchard crops like cherries, table grapes, and blueberries. However, cherries are the initial focus.

Click below for a short video on the new system:

For more information:
Richard Vollebregt
Cravo Equipment Ltd
Tel: +(1) 519 759 8226 x 215
[email protected]
www.cravo.com