WA blueberry grower turns to automation as it plans expansion
Western Berry hopes to triple production, but says workers will remain essential even as machinery takes on more harvesting and farm tasks.
WA blueberry business Western Berry is investing in automated machinery to tackle labour costs and seasonal recruitment difficulties as its family owners pursue plans to triple production.
The 120-hectare operation north of Perth is expected to produce just under 1,500 tonnes of blueberries in 2026 for supermarkets in Australia and Asia. The Kwiecien-Fisher family hopes to achieve its expansion over the coming years.
Operations manager Marek Kwiecien-Fisher said driverless tractors were already handling spraying, weed control and transport of harvested berries. Automated systems also help grade fruit and fill punnets, while packing data informs production and supply decisions.
The farm uses two harvesting machines. Its newest model runs on batteries and solar power, with remote control allowing it to collect berries and stack trays. Mr Kwiecien-Fisher said the business eventually intended to use AI learning to enable the machine to navigate independently.
A mechanical harvester can collect up to 6 tonnes daily, with picking costs of about 50 cents per kilogram against about A$6 per kilogram for manual picking.
Mr Kwiecien-Fisher said possible future applications included robots trained through AI to prune plants and models to forecast crops. The business is also exploring automated mowing, flower counting and camera systems that identify crop health and irrigation problems.
Despite those plans, he said machines would harvest no more than half the crop. Western Berry employs more than 200 pickers, and he said expansion was increasing overall employment faster than technology was replacing jobs.
