Bob Neville

Bob was born and raised on a dairy farm in Saskatchewan, then took up grain farming in 1980.  In 1995, he moved to Vernon and as an experienced mechanic, quickly found work as a marine mechanic.  However, once a farmer always a farmer … he discovered orcharding in 2007.  His first-year as an orchardist involved planting a new orchard plus assisting in managing an established orchard in Coldstream.  The 13.5 acre block consists of Ambrosia, Galas, Spartans and Honeycrisp.  When asked what he loves about orcharding, he is quick to reply, “I love agriculture; I love growing and producing quality crops.” Bob’s keen interest in orcharding and his desire to have the perfect orchard has resulted in consistently growing good fruit.  Bob bases his nutrient program on leaf and soil analysis; ensures that his orchard stays weed-free by rotating chemicals, and always looks for ways to be on the cutting edge of growing quality fruit.

Bob admits that the downside to orcharding is labour. “Finding a good crew to help with pruning, thinning and picking is the biggest hurdle that growers encounter.”  Bob, who enjoys working with his hands (also an experienced carpenter and cabinet maker), decided to start thinking of ways to help manage the orchard in a more efficient manner to offset labour costs and increase production.

At harvest time, moving bins around for pickers is a major time-consumer.   This past winter, Bob invented a machine that enables pickers to move their own bins around.  This rugged personal bin mover allows apple pickers to carry two bins along with them as they move down each row.  This environmentally-friendly machine operates with an electric/hydraulic drive motor.  It is driven by a 12 volt hydraulic power pack with a hydraulic bin lift. It is also equipped with a hardwired battery charger and a pair of 6 volt deep cycle batteries.  The benefits are great:  less bruising of the apples; fuel and labour costs are reduced as there is no longer a need to move bins for pickers; and pickers are more efficient, especially when they are colour picking.  As a result, more bins are picked per day.
 

The results for Bob this past harvest were great.  He was able to cut time spent on his tractor by half which meant he had time to haul his own fruit; resulting in time saved and reduced labour costs (previous years he has had to hire someone to haul his fruit for him).  What did he do with his extra time?  Bob is also a hockey scout for University of Waterloo; perhaps he was able to spend more time in the hockey rinks.