There are currently 41 machines working, all locally designed and manufactured, serving more than 4,100 hectares of yerbals.
The points to consider are important: positive profitability for the producer or company because the cost is significantly reduced when harvesting 1500 kilos per hour.
On the other hand, the yerbal must be adapted so that the machines can operate. Through mechanization it must cease to be harvested like a tree.
This change is generating a strong demand for skilled labor for the maintenance of the harvesters, but it raises a question regarding the future of the tareferos.
In December 2018, the first machine for the yerba mate harvest was presented. From there, 41 harvesters were manufactured and are in operation with very good results.
“It is an invention from here, which came from the producers and metallurgists in the area, we give the customer the possibility of doing it with a tractor in the most economical part because there we already have the engine, the box, the transmission, the tractor can be new or used, the ones that are sold the most are used tractors. We are transforming those tractors into machines; our manufacturing, our design, that is 0 km with a guarantee, as if to give the customer comfort, to make it economical and to have a tool ”., says Jorge Lory, owner of Metalurgica Lory.
Raise awareness about modifying yerbal
“The biggest job is for the producer who has to modify his herb because through mechanization it will have to stop being harvested like a tree. We are in that process now, ”said Lory.
The businessman highlighted changes that allow the streamlining of the process including the reception of raw material to the dryers. “Another thing that is changing is the trucks that no longer have punctures, but are transported in bulk, the machine unloads a thousand kilos on the truck in less than 20 minutes, that also speeds up a lot and lowers the risks. The dryer is also changing the system for receiving the yerba ”, Lory pointed out.
Machine versus manual harvest
The use of the machinery is still being tested to evaluate its effectiveness compared to the manual harvest carried out by the tareferos.
“There is a great job, especially from the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), from agronomists, from cooperatives and private producers who are working a lot on fertilization, on soil analysis, a change is being felt because the machine cannot choose the segment that is going to cut, the machine cannot harvest all the branches that are produced at one time, so that also changes ”, says Lory.
As of 2018, the Metalúrgica Lory firm, a pioneer in the manufacture of tea harvesters for more than 40 years, decided to innovate in the development of the same machinery adapted for the harvest of yerba mate and, in response to the demand, works on the development of units destined to the tobacco harvest.
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