Olive harvesting by hand or by machine – what producers say

Il circolo is a small traditional olive oil producer. Our olives are still picked by hand and that is quite labour-intensive. We sometimes get questions about this. Il circolo would like to farm in a regenerative way and this way of harvesting fits well with that. We would like to tell you more about it.

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There are two ways to harvest olives: traditionally by hand or mechanically with modern harvesting machines. In Sicily, olives are traditionally combed from the branches by hand, either with sticks or with harvesting rakes.

Nowadays, pneumatic or electric combs or a hand-operated shaking machine are also often used. The olives are “combed off” the tree and collected in large nets under the trees.
With this harvesting method, small branches and leaves also end up in the nets. The loss of these twigs and leaves is not harmful for the tree. They would be removed anyway during pruning after the harvest. In the past, the twigs and leaves were taken out directly, but nowadays they are filtered out in the modern olive oil mills. Finally, the harvested olives are placed in large bags or baskets and transported to the olive oil mill for further processing. Mechanical olive harvesting involves large harvesting machines. These are large shakers and special pistons used for harvesting. The shaker grips the trunk of the olive tree with a gripper arm and shakes it briefly at a very high frequency. Afterwards, special devices suck up the fallen olives. There are also harvesting machines that combine shaking and suction very efficiently. These work only on young trees and on a flat surface. Then there is the so-called ‘log shaker’, which works with an inverted sieve. This has the advantage that it can be used with older trees or for a few large branches and also on less flat land.

How does the olive harvest affect the quality of olive oil?

Harvesting by hand is best for the quality of the olive oil. (1) That way, the olives can be harvested at the optimum time. That is, when they are just barely ripe and before they fall off the branch. It makes little difference whether the olives are picked by hand or by a hand shaker. However, when the olives are beaten out of the tree with a stick, they are often damaged and the fermentation process is accelerated. This fermentation can only be stopped by processing the olives. In practical terms, this means that damaged olives must be processed within a few hours in order to continue to provide top-quality olive oil.
Industrial harvesting machines can only be used when the olives are close to falling off the branch and are actually more than ripe. Some olives are already fermenting at this late stage of the harvest. You could say that with this method, only low quality olive oil can be produced.

The costs and benefits of traditional and intensive olive groves

Harvesting olives by hand is the most labour-intensive – and therefore the most expensive – method. To qualify for the coveted D.O.P. certificate, olive growers must use traditional production methods. To give an idea: In , harvest productivity at il circolo was 1.3 – 2.5 trees per worker per hour. This equates to 20-26 kilos of olives harvested per worker per hour (of which less than 1% were leaves and twigs). Thus, the olive harvest is very expensive and actually makes it unprofitable for Sicilian farmers. Every year, many olive farmers give up, as it is almost impossible to make a living out of olive cultivation. As a result, many Sicilian olive groves are abandoned.

For many traditional olive groves with older trees, the use of modern harvesting machines – such as a log shaker – is difficult because they are designed for standardised use. Thus, the shape of the olive tree determines whether the harvester will work. Deviating shapes – as is more often the case with older trees – the machine cannot cope with. In older olive groves, the trees are usually located on steep slopes and not always in neat rows spread out across the land. This makes the use of harvesting machines more difficult as well as the lack of suitable roads between the pieces of land.

For il circolo, the use of a harvesting machine is not an option. In Sicily, the indigenous olive species, such as Cerasuola, Moresca, Nocellara Etnea and Nocellara del Belice, Biancolilla and Tonda Iblea, prefer to grow on the higher plains of the hilly landscape. These are difficult to traverse for modern harvesting machines. Moreover, in order to obtain a good quality olive oil, the olives must be harvested early, before they are ripe. Unripe olives are light and difficult to detach from the branch. This means that we have to pick our olives by hand. The advantage of this is that the CO2 footprint of our olive oil is much lower, which is better for the environment.

Large-scale olive groves cannot do without special harvesting machines. With these modern machines, one person can harvest up to 10 ha per day with a yield of up to 16 tonnes per hour. Not only does this provide a high harvesting capacity, but also a huge saving in labour costs. What you see is that the harvesting machines determine the layout of the olive grove. There is no room for older trees and growing olives on steep slopes is impossible, because only young olive trees can be harvested in spacious rows on flat ground.

Harvesting at night has the advantage that the colder temperatures at night cause the olives to ferment less quickly than during the day. This is positive for the quality of the olive oil. A major disadvantage of harvesting at night is that birds get confused by bright lights and loud noises, so they do not flee but stay in the tree. Birds that are sucked up by the harvesting machine usually do not survive.

The method of harvesting – by machine or by hand – explains the price difference between olive oil from a large-scale producer (often found in supermarkets) and that from small, traditional olive oil producers, which is more exclusive.

Olive harvesting has an extraordinary importance for the Italian economy, since Italy is one of the great protagonists of the international olive oil sector and among the most important producers in the Mediterranean basin, where 3/4 of the world production is concentrated.

In order to excel, thousands of small or very small farms focus not so much on the quantity as on the quality of the olives harvested. Italy has 42 DOP and 7 IGP oils, i.e., the majority of those recognized within the entire European Union. Olive growing and EVO oil production are among the undisputed symbols of Made in Italy, a concept made up of craftsmanship and traditions, which however embrace innovation, as well as of a constant attitude for evolution.

For decades Campagnola has been alongside olive growers from all over the world and has been following the evolution of this fascinating sector, always trying to play a proactive role in the search for effective solutions to facilitate it and constantly raise its quality. In fact, facilitating the work of farmers means contributing to the success of olives and olive oil.

Different techniques for a quality collection

Olive growing has its roots in very ancient times,

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when manual harvesting was the only possible option to obtain a qualitatively satisfactory harvest. Today the evolution of technology has led to a significant transformation of the sector, but some of the traditional methods, despite having evolved, still remain as they were.

The techniques used in the harvesting season are utmost important, not only because they determine a significant commitment in terms of costs and manpower, but also because they can affect the final quality of the product.

The commitment of Campagnola has always been to stay alongside farmers, studying solutions that maintain a perfect balance among several specific needs: the well-being of the plant, the comfort of the operators, the budget for the purchase and maintenance of equipment and the quality of the final product: oil or table olives.

But what are the main harvesting techniques used?

How to pick olives by hand

Hand harvesting of the olives is certainly the most traditional method. For hundreds of years it had been the only system used by farmers, but today too it is used with particularly valuable olive varieties.

It is much easier to use it in case of low and small plants, grown ad hoc for this technique. The great advantage is its respectful impact on the olives, since their integrity and quality are guaranteed. However, this technique does not exclude the use of tools that can facilitate the achievement of faster and more efficient results, such as simple manual rakes.

Furthermore, it is necessary to use olive nets and safe ladders, when the branches exceed the height that can be reached by hand.

Harvesting olives by hand: advantages and disadvantages

Just manually harvesting requires patience and meticulousness, but it allows the operator to preserve the integrity of the drupes and apply the artisan knowledge of the olive growers.

On the other hand, however, it involves long times. This may affect the quality of the oil obtained. In fact, the time between harvesting and milling must be short, as olives must be brought to the mill within 24/48 hours after their detachment from the branch to ensure an excellent result, which is not easy to achieve with totally manual harvesting operations.

Furthermore, it is undoubtedly a economically sustainable technique, considering the manpower hours to be employed. For this reason, it has been replaced, or at least accompanied, by semi-mechanized or fully mechanized harvesting methods.

Tools for olive harvesting

Hand-beating is the technique that makes the olives fall by shaking the branches by means of poles or sticks. It makes it possible to detach the ripe olives, so that they fall into adequate nets to then be selected and processed.

Although this system has been used for centuries, it is not to be considered very favorable to the health of the plant, as beating the branches could cause them damages or peeling.

 How to harvest olives effortlessly

The technological evolution of the agricultural sector has led to the manufacture of harvesting tools, which can be mechanically operated by different power sources. The most common hand harvesting methods are simulated by these tools, but they relieve the operator of the physical effort, which is necessary for completely manual interventions.

For olive farms, automating operations by means of professional and reliable mechanical tools drastically reduces harvest times and labor costs. Discussion is always open about the possible deterioration of the quality of the olives and oil with the use of mechanized techniques, but the main discriminating factor is the choice of excellent quality tools, which can ensure maximized performance, preserving intact the quality standards of the products.

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