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HARVESTING
The crop is lifted as an immature, flaky-skinned product and is ready for harvest at around 12-13 weeks.
The first indoor crops are lifted in February and the first outdoor côtil crops are harvested from the end of March through to late July.
Seed crop is lifted in late June and July.
The early côtils are hand-picked having been first ploughed out of the ground using winch ploughs. The slightly less steep slopes are lifted with a tractor and small side-elevator digger and then hand-picked.
The rest of the crop is lifted using single and twin row harvesters into bulk 1 tonne bins. At the peak of the season The Jersey Royal Company can be using up to forty harvesters at any one time.
The loads of 6 to 8 bins are covered with tarpaulins and transported from the field to the packhouse for cooling, grading and processing within an hour of lifting.
There are three harvesting teams (orange, green and blue) that are responsible for the west, north and central and east of the island respectively. The three teams are split into smaller units for specific operations and are responsible for the total management of the crops from planting through to harvest. Each team has a strategic base in their respective part of the island to minimise on traffic movement around the island roads, and all grading and packing is done at the main Jersey Royal site, Peacock farm.
The Jersey Royal Company operates a one-way system between the fields and the packhouse as a CSR policy to avoid unnecessary congestion along the narrow island lanes.
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