Asparagus
harvesting methods and strategies have remained unchanged since
inception in Washington. A bioeconomic model was developed to determine
the profit optimizing frequency of harvesting for manual and mechanical
harvesting techniques. The mechanical harvester is economically
viable if the harvester cuts 72.3 percent and 73.55 percent of what
a hand crew would cut for process and fresh utilization, respectively.
The results indicate that decreasing the frequency of harvest increases
profit for asparagus used in processing. This research is the first
attempt to address the problem of asparagus harvesting with a bioeconomic
model.
