Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

In our experience, every grower practices crop load management. FruitScout just makes it possible to collect enough data in a short amount of time to make precision crop load management possible with the goal of increasing apple orchard profit per acre. 

If you are new to precision crop load management, we recommend you start with our pilot program. We will train your staff and work with you the entire season to make sure you get results. Want to study up? Check out our precision crop load management resources.

Pricing is based on the size of your operation and trees sampled. We suggest that growers start with a pilot to experience the benefits of FruitScout for themselves. Pilot pricing is based on your orchard size. Use our ROI calculator to estimate the increase in apple yield and profit based on the pilot.

FruitScout uses direct measurements in your orchards to provide you with optimal crop load targets to increase profits per acre. Precise data collected throughout the season helps you monitor and stay on track to hit those targets and maximize yield. Many growers estimate crop load by comparing what they see today to recollections of prior years. Instead of replacing that expertise, FruitScout upgrades the yardstick used to make year-over-year comparisons. It takes the labor and subjectivity out of image collection, turning estimating into a quick, accurate, and objective data-driven process.

Companies that promise to replace hard data and grower experience with their own yield estimates do so by essentially guessing at the number of fruit that cannot be seen.

FruitScout identifies visible fruit on trees at all stages of growth: dards, flowers, fruitlets, maturing, and ripe fruit. It does this by analyzing a smartphone picture that shows 1 – 4 trees abreast. Fruit detection is elemental to analysis, and FruitScout reports verifiably accurate counts.  

FruitScout technology excludes fruit showing on background trees or laying on the ground.

We like to say that FruitScout puts precision crop load management in the palm of your hand, which sums up how we differ from other solutions on the market:

  • Only FruitScout offers a 100% smartphone based solution. You do not need expensive cameras, drones, or GPS systems. That means you can get started quickly and you don’t need to spend a lot of money up front. Take a smartphone out into your orchards, take pictures of the blocks, and upload them for processing. The FruitScout Dashboard provides results in hours.
  • FruitScout is also the only solution that enables growers to practically follow precision crop load management principles. It provides predictability across the entire growing cycle by enabling you to scientifically set optimal crop load targets and stay on track from bud to bin, down to the block, row, and individual tree level.

We will work with you to find the optimal sample rate for your growing environment and variety, generally in the range from 5% to 20%, with a 10% sample rate being the most common. More can be better, if accuracy and precision are your goal. 

Below are the growing systems that we support today, with more in the works.

Tall Spindle

Traditional

Y Trellis

Young

Old Gnarley

Yes. While we got our start in apples, we also support agave sizing. In addition, we have begun work with select grape and citrus growers. Check out the supported fruit table for more fruit-specific information. If you don’t see your fruit listed and you are interested in using precision agriculture techniques, let us know and we can set up a discovery call.