Harvesting Beans

We are currently harvesting our Speckled Beans (otherwise commonly know as Sugar Beans) at the moment.

Having been planted in December they grow quickly and are ready for harvest in about 120 days. Being dry beans they don't like a lot of rain, and are sensitive to weather conditions more so then other crops. If it's too hot and dry their pods can shatter open, and if they are too wet the bean can be spongy. We know from experience that once the pods start to shrink slightly that they are ready.

These images show the first step in the process. We use the pickett attachment on the back of a tractor to lift the crop. It cleverly windrows (to place in a line) the beans so our combine harvesters can come and pick them up.

Once our combine harvesters have run though the windrows we offload the beans into large bags using forklifts back at the farm warehouse. From here we transport them up the road to Warden where they sorted and bagged.

A wonderfully simple mechanical sorting machine that vibrates separates our beans into two lines: Mnandi and Jabu. Mandi is our value line while Jabu is a more premium bean. We look at colour, size and texture when sorting the two lines. A large bean does not necessarily mean a good bean, there is more to it then that.

Once the beans have been sorted we have to bag them. Weighing a full bag on a scale until we have the correct weight is the first step. This is done before every new batch. Once the weight is set we can automatically fill the bags and heat seal their tops closed. After being stacked neatly on a pallet they are ready for collection and delivery.