Check Almond Moisture Content
March 21, 2011 Growers often get ideas for new farming strategies, including the use of new equipment, at farm shows. The World Ag Expo, held in Tulare, CA, each year, might be one of the best places for such research, as it’s one of the largest agricultural shows in the world. But the DICKEY-john Corp. turned that formula around a few years ago.
The Auburn, IL, company exhibited its grain moisture analyzers for years. DICKEY-john has been around for more than four decades, producing monitors, controllers, moisture testers, ground speed sensors, and a variety of other systems used in agricultural, public works, and analytical markets. And in the grain business, few things are more important to its value than its moisture content.
Nut growers also are interested in moisture content because it allows them to get a better handle on when to harvest. Four years ago, a few such growers came up to the company’s World Ag Expo exhibit and asked if the handheld unit, which is called the mini GAC, could be used for almonds. Roger VanderKolk, a product manager for the company, said they already had the necessary calibrations on almonds for bench-top units, which were being used by almond hullers. So there wasn’t any reason they couldn’t calibrate the mini GAC for almonds.
“What we did when we developed handheld units (for grain) was to make sure the calibrations were precisely the same as bench-top units,” he said. “We did some testing on almonds, and the next year started pursuing the marketplace because what we found is the larger processors had bench-top units but there was nothing at the grower level.”
450-plus Calibrations
The mini GAC is extremely easy to use. (To see a video of VanderKolk demonstrating the unit at this year’s World Ag Expo, go on the Web to www.growingproduce.com/gptv/?vid=251.) You just turn it on, making sure it’s set for almonds, as it can hold 20 different calibrations. Actually, though, it’s not limited to those 20, says VanderKolk. A user can go to the company’s website and download more than 450 calibrations, from crops such as coffee to other nuts, such as walnuts and pistachios.
To finish the measuring process, the user hits a button to measure the capacity of the cell in an empty state, and then fills it with almonds. After just 10 seconds, you get a moisture reading, and that’s it. A grower can know right away if his almonds are at peak harvest time or not. “Primarily, the number one advantage is to know when to harvest,” says VanderKolk. “There needs to be certain moisture percentage when you go to the processor or he won’t accept the load. Or there can be a backlog because of drying time. The processor will accept the nuts, but they have to dry.”
DICKEY-john really concentrated on making the mini GAC, which has a total of just four buttons, extremely simple to use, says VanderKolk. “What we found is the bench-top units designed back in the ’90s were done by engineers for engineers, not for the industry,” he says. “When you put instruments in the field, you have someone unfamiliar (with the unit) using it. We wanted them to be able to be used by anyone with as little training as possible.”
Most Accurate
The mini GAC, which sells for about $400, is the world’s most accurate handheld moisture tester, says VanderKolk. In addition, the mini GAC Plus, which retails for $600, is the only handheld unit that tests both the moisture and test weight of a given commodity. Based on federal standard moisture testing technology, it delivers “grain trade” accuracy.
It’s also fast and easy to use because unlike some other units, there are no cumbersome screw caps. It can measure moisture ranging from 5% to 45%, and is accurate to 0.2%. It has automatic temperature compensation, and the almonds can be anywhere from 32ËšF to 122ËšF. The 450-plus available calibrations are USB compatible for calibration loading.
VanderKolk says that the growers who have tried the unit — both at the World Ag Expo and elsewhere — are often taken aback at how incredibly fast and simple the mini GAC is to use. “There’s a lot of intimidation involved about using new technology,” he says. “But all you have to do is put the nuts in the cup, hit a button, and you’re good to go.”
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