Lettuce harvesting: discover our fast and precise harvesters now

Nowadays, labor shortages are one of the biggest problems that farms need to address. It should also be considered that the workforce is a significant expense item for the realities of the sector.

To deal with these two critical aspects – on the one hand lack of labor, on the other labor costs that continue to grow – there is a solution : investing in the purchase of automated machines dedicated to the lettuce harvest .

For more than twenty years Ortomec has been a leader in the design and production of harvesters and seeders capable of increasing the profitability of agricultural businesses . But how is the lettuce harvesting done thanks to these special machines? Follow us, we tell you about it in this article.

You have never seen a lettuce harvest like this: speed and ease of use at your disposal

There are several botanical varieties of lettuce (and as many sub-categories), but the most cultivated in Italy are the iceberg , the romana , the gentile, the radicchio and the escarole . To facilitate harvesting, it is recommended to work the soil that will host the head lettuce well, so as to allow the roots – those of the lettuce are rather fragile – to develop at their best.

Once you have reached the desired size and the typical color that characterizes it, it is time to move on to the lettuce harvest! In the past , the only way in which it was possible to proceed involved the use of a sharp knife: a manual work that was certainly heavy and not very easy.  

Today, thanks to the scarcity of workforce in the fields, the harvesting of head lettuce is made faster and more comfortable: Ortomec machines have been designed precisely to meet this goal. Equipped with an oscillating blade that moves at high speed , the Ortomec head lettuce harvesters cut vegetables with absolute precision at the height of the collar, i.e. where the white and toughest part of the leaves is present.

A clean cut that ensures clean and safe work. In fact, Ortomec harvesters allow the operator to work in an upright position , protected from bad weather and the heat of the sun thanks to the presence of perimeter protections and a roof to protect themselves from bad weather.

For optimal lettuce harvesting even in the dark , Ortomec machines can be equipped with a lighting system that allows you to work even when the sun goes down. Equipped with a touch screen and a multifunctional joystick , Ortomec harvesters are the best solution if you need to process large quantities of leafy vegetables quickly.