Once production commences each plant has to be picked every 2 to 3 days just taking off the berries that are ripe that day. Its a back breaking job walking along each row and bending down to pick each berry so farms and regions have invented different equipment to slightly improve the process. Queensland growers with relatively flat farms have developed 3 wheeled trolleys where the picker is seated down amongst the plants with trays to pick into. Many farms require up to 120 pickers to work 6 – 7 days a week during peak season.
It is most important to cool strawberries down below 4°C as quickly as possible after picking to minimise breakdown so trucks ferry the picked fruit back cool rooms at the packing shed where they are cooled prior to packing.
