Economic Comparison of Traditional Small Box and Semi-Automatic Bin Handling HarvestingTechnologies for Wild Blueberries from a Field Trial: A Stochastic Approach

Abstract

The type of handling system (i.e., traditional small box versus semi-automatic binhandling) distinguishes the two main types of existing commercial wild blueberrymechanical harvesters commonly used by farmers in Atlantic Canada and thenortheastern United States. However, their impacts on costs and returns to farmers havenot been evaluated. Partial budgeting (PB) methods were used to quantify and compareeconomic performance of the two technologies. Stochastic PB involved probabilisticsensitivity analysis, where multiple parameters were allowed to vary simultaneously, andthe results evaluated. Net change in profit, estimated using a deterministic PB modelbased on two alternative measures of harvest rate (tonnes ha-1and hours ha-1) for 2017data was CAD$0.52 tonne-1, and CAD$674 ha-1, and implies that switching from the small box handling system to the semi-automatic bin handling system is economic allyviable. Economic performance using stochastic PB analysis is consistent with the deterministic model results.