Watching the Watermelon Harvest-

Harvesters toss watermelons along a human chain until it reaches large cardboard storage bins on a flatbed truck. Photo: Steve Newvine

Another Big Year for a Favorite Crop

It’s an impressive sight. Farm workers tossing watermelons along a human chain that ends with a worker on a flatbed trailer placing the fruit into cardboard containers.

It is harvest time for one of Merced County’s great variety of crops.

The preferred harvest method in this particular field is known as cut and pitch. “Yes, it’s pretty much pitch, pitch, and dropping it on the truck,” said Tashi Zouras, President of the Western Watermelon Association.

Watermelon is ready for harvest at the Dan Avilla and Sons field in Atwater, Merced County. Photo: Steve Newvine

On the surface, this harvesting process seems labor intensive. But Tashi says the cutting and pitching crews understand the routine well and work efficiently.

“The cutter cuts the fruit loose from the vine,” he said. “The cutter is trained to tell by color whether the watermelon is ready to be taken from the field. The cutter cuts, and then places it in the row for the pitcher to pick up.”

That’s when the fun begins.

I spotted the operation of Dan Avilla and Sons field in Atwater. Like clockwork, the pitchers toss the fruit about six feet to the next person.

Eventually, the pitching ends on the flatbed trailer where cartons are sitting on pallets.

While the pitching part of the watermelon harvest seems labor intensive, not all watermelon ripens at the same pace. Photo: Steve Newvine

Because the watermelon crop does not ripen all at the same time, Tashi says the cutting and pitching really cannot be mechanized efficiently.

The work crew will return to the field later on as the rest of the crop is ready to be harvested.

“North of Merced County we have growers who use a conveyor belt system,” Tashi says, “But the pitching system used by Dan Avilla here in Merced County is efficient.”

According to the 2018 Merced County Agriculture Report, almonds are the biggest crop. Watermelons are not even listed in the top fifteen crops.
Still, the fruit carves out a sizable slice of local farm production.

“There were approximately three-hundred, seventy acres grown in Merced County in 2018,” according Merced County Deputy Agricultural Commissioner Carrie Mitchell.

“Most of the acreage was grown on the west side of Merced County.”

Deputy Commissioner Mitchell says the County performs yearly in-field standardization inspections to check for maturity, and determine whether the crop is free from defects and serious damage.

“This is to ensure that the consumer is buying the best product possible,” she said.

While there are some farms north of Merced County that use a conveyor belt system, this time honored cut and pitch process continues to work well in the watermelon fields operated by Dan Avilla and Sons. Photo: Steve Newvine

Industry wide, the Western Watermelon Association says more than five billion pounds are shipped nationwide every year.

That represents a billion dollars in revenue according to the Association.

The website SeeCalifornia.com, states that growers in the state produce approximately 330,000 tons of watermelon annually.

While most people will agree it is a fruit, in Oklahoma, the watermelon is the official state vegetable.

Back in Merced County, the watermelon crop is heading to the retail markets. The Western Watermelon Association says about ninety-percent of the watermelon grown here stays in the state.

This field in Atwater will continue to be harvested as the remainder of the fruit matures. The fields will be likely be regrown for a fall harvest.

Then once again, the cutting and pitching ritual will resume in the watermelon fields.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced. His latest book Course Corrections, is available on Lulu.com