This behind the scenes visit was particularly exciting for me because I have never been to a watermelon operation before. There are a lot of spirited debates in the agricultural industry regarding watermelon packing operations in the southeastern United States. So, I decided to go to a watermelon operation to see for myself. The following watermelon harvest and packing footage is what I encountered at Bowles Farming Company in Los Banos, California!
Table of Contents
Watermelon Harvest
The watermelon harvesting process is unlike anything you have ever seen! The watermelons are cut from the vine, and either packed on a packing table in the field or tossed (pitched) to someone on a pickup truck that packs them into boxes or containers.
How do they know when watermelons are ready for harvest?
There are a few specific ripeness indicators among the different watermelon cultivars. The initial test to determine when a field is ready for harvest is to test the soluble solids concentration (SSC) of a sample of watermelons from the field.
From there, the workers then have to go through and review each watermelon to see which is ready for harvest. The main indicator is the ground spot, which should be large and yellow. As watermelons ripen, they turn from a pale, white looking ground spot to a yellow ground spot. Other indicators can be that they are heavy for their size, the vine attachment has started to dry up, etc.
(You can click here to learn more about how to select and store watermelons based on your selection at the grocery store.)
What is the ground spot on the watermelon?
The ground spot is the large, discolored portion of the watermelon. Watermelons grow on vines on top of the soil, and the portion of the watermelon that sits on the soil and does not have contact with the sun, and is therefore, not the same green color as the rest of the watermelon, is referred to as the ground spot.
How are watermelons harvested?
All watermelons are harvested by hand. Workers initially go through the field and cut the watermelons from the vine that are ready for harvest and then the harvesting crew returns to harvest all of the cut watermelons.
There were two different types of watermelon harvesting and packing taking place in the field:
- Harvesting watermelons into boxes (either six larger watermelons per box or two smaller watermelons per bag and then four bags per box)
- Harvesting watermelons into bulk cardboard bins
The difference in how they are harvested and packed in the field is determined based on the customer and what they require. For example, if you are a Costco shopper, you might recognize the two watermelon per bag setup.
You will notice in the video below that the harvesters are just picking up the watermelons from the ground. They are able to do this because a cutting crew went through the field beforehand and cut all of the watermelons so that the harvest crew would only have to lift up the melons and hand them off to the packers.
For the first watermelon harvest and packing method, the watermelons are harvested and placed on the packing table of the harvesting rig. The packers then place the watermelons into the boxes, or into bags and then boxes. The watermelons all receive sticker labels and are sent on a conveyor over to the adjacent trailer to be packed.
For the second watermelon harvest and packing option, this was unlike anything I have seen before! The harvesters were picking up the watermelons and tossing them, similar to the style of shooting a basketball, up to a worker located on top of a flatbed truck in the field. Everything about this was really astonishing to me because they make it look so easy. However, this has to be extremely physically demanding, both for the harvesters and for the packers.
At this operation, they are packing into bulk boxes. However, in other regions of the United States, it is still common for watermelons to be harvested into bulk trailers or even buses that are lined with carpet. In terms of food safety, the bulk boxes are the preferred method.
All of the product that is packed in the field is then taken to the nearby packing shed. They are stored at the packing shed until they are shipped to the customer.
Watermelon Packing
For the watermelons that are not packed into the final unit in the field, they are taken to the packing shed to be ran through the packing line.
How are watermelons packed?
The watermelon packing process consists of:
- The workers remove the watermelons from the bulk cardboard bins and place them onto the packing line
- The watermelons pass through three different brush steps (without the use of any wash water)
- The watermelons are labeled and packed into large cardboard bins once again
- The bins are covered with cardboard lids and palletized until further shipment
One thing you might notice is that this packing shed is not fully enclosed. This is a common occurrence with watermelon packing operations, but it is not common for most other crops.
Watermelon Harvest & Packing Video
Please see the video below for a more in-depth view of the watermelon harvesting and packing process.
Food Safety Considerations
For a watermelon harvesting and packing operation, some of the main food safety concerns are:
- Worker hygiene – Since the harvesters touch every melon they harvest and the packers pack them individually, there is a lot of handling taking place. Whether they are using their bare hands or gloves, there needs to be a hygiene policy in place to ensure that hand washing occurs every time before they return to work, and if they are using gloves, that they are clean and/or switched out regularly.
- Cross contamination with shoes – When the watermelons are being harvested and tossed up to be packed, the packers do sometimes stand inside of the cardboard bins. In order to prevent cross contamination the watermelons, the workers need to wear booties (or some sort of equivalent).
- Cleaning and Sanitation of the harvesting rig and packing line – Every piece of harvested product touches the packing table on the harvesting rig or packing line in the packing shed, so all of the surfaces need to be cleaned and sanitized to prevent any potential cross-contamination issues to the product.
There are many more items to be taken into consideration, but this is just a brief list to get you thinking about it!
Featured Grower Information
I would like to send a big thank you to Bowles Farming Company for the tour and for allowing the gathered content to be shared! Bowles Farming Company is located in Los Banos, California, and in addition to melons, they also grow cotton, basil, tomatoes and alfalfa. You can also click here to see how they harvest basil.
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Thanks for explaining the farm’s harvest process, such as packing the products in the field and then taking them to the shed. Doing this correctly would probably be important to ensure that the produce is kept safe and in good condition. When choosing packaging to put it in, it would probably be a good idea to make sure you choose the right materials so they can keep the products safe as well as figure out what design you want to catch the attention of potential buyers, which could help you sell more.