Abstract
Many constraints are introduced into the harvesting process that must be managed by a fruit buyer. Each juice processing plant has daily load allocations that must be met, but not exceeded. These load allocations may also change during a day based on processing capacity or plant breakdowns. Beyond load allocations, a fruit buyer must manage against changes in underlying fruit quality as defined in contracts. In addition, most growers have some expectation of the timing for harvesting their crop. Finally, management of resources including labor and equipment must be considered. Sufficient amounts of work and monetary compensation must be maintained to prevent hand labor from moving to another harvesting crew. Many times, the acquisition of labor requires the use of complex government programs with their own combinations of limitations. Each of these can have an impact on the fruit quality during the season and grove production in the next season.
