Western Australia Blueberry Grower Turns to AI and Automation to Triple Output
Western Berry, Western Australia's largest blueberry grower, is investing in AI, driverless tractors and machine harvesting as it plans to triple production. The family firm says automation can cut labor costs but will not remove the need for workers.
Western Berry, Western Australia's largest blueberry grower, is investing in artificial intelligence, automation and machine harvesting as it expands, a move that could see hand-picked blueberries soon harvested with far less manual labor. The farm says the technology should reduce labor costs but will not replace workers.
The business plans to triple production and is exploring AI-guided pruning.
A 120-hectare farm with big plans
Western Berry's blueberry operation sits 100 kilometres north of Perth and covers 120 hectares. This year it will produce just under 1,500 tonnes of blueberries, bound for supermarkets across Australia and Asia.
Its owners, the Kwiecien-Fisher family, hope to triple output in the coming years. More fruit means more pickers, and many horticultural businesses say workers are becoming harder and more expensive to find.
Earlier this year, Australian food producers raised concerns about slower federal visa processing and limits on working holiday maker numbers. They said the changes could reduce access to seasonal labor.
What is already automated
Operations manager Marek Kwiecien-Fisher said the company is trialling autonomous technology wherever it can on the property. Driverless, self-navigating tractors spray the berries and haul fruit from the field to the pack house. Laser-guided "green on brown" weed control works on the ground.
Inside the pack house, the farm uses photographic packing, grading systems and autonomous punnetising, which means filling the fruit trays.
"Then in the packing we use a lot of autonomy in photographic packing, grading solutions and autonomous punnetising," Kwiecien-Fisher said.
Driverless tractors rely on GPS mapping, sensors and cameras to follow set routes, and they can also be operated remotely. Kwiecien-Fisher said they are an expensive outlay and take time to learn to set up and run. He still believes they have a firm future on the farm.
Data and pruning next
Data from the pack house is proving useful too. Kwiecien-Fisher said it can show the company how to operate next year and where to fill gaps in production, supply models or customer requirements.
He said future options could reach as far as humanoid robots pruning plants, guided by AI models of future crops. Pruning basically sets how much fruit the farm will pick next year, he said, so it is one of the biggest indicators for forecasting volumes.
"If we can teach an AI model where to prune and how to prune, and if that can teach a humanoid robot where to prune and how to prune, you basically get rid of any damage to your drip lines, trellising, your pruning equipment, your plants and it becomes a very precise farming technique," he said.
The company is also looking at autonomous mowing, flower counts and crop health detection. Cameras could check the crop for poor irrigation.
Still a family business
Technology is playing a bigger role, but Western Berry remains family-run. Derek Fisher and his wife Barbara bought what is now one part of the farm almost 30 years ago, wanting space for their young family.
It was a former ostrich property. They first planted olives in 2001, but a successful one-hectare trial of blueberries led them to change course and move into the blueberry industry.
