Producing 20,000 kilograms of fresh, gourmet vegetables each week – all of which must be perfectly sized to fit a salad fork – means harvest is a delicate art for Western Australia’s The Loose Leaf Lettuce Company. In this article, part-owner Kevan Dobra discusses how the operation utilises its equipment to produce the ideal leafy green vegetable.

Regarded as one of the state’s largest salad producers, The Loose Leaf Lettuce Company operates across two sandy soil properties spanning 60 hectares (150 acres) in Gingin, where it grows cos lettuce, baby spinach, baby leaf red and green lettuce, rocket, mizuna, tatsoi and French kale.

The Dobra family – including Maureen and Barry, and their son Kevan – has owned the operation for more than 33 years but has focused solely on lettuce mixes for the last 20, to align with growing consumer demand for fresh-cut baby leaf spinach and salad mixes.

“We process all our own salad mixes here at our custom-built packing facility,” Kevan said.

“We have exported and sold out of state in the past but are now focusing purely on the reliable local market here in Western Australia. To meet our demands, we need efficiency and reliability across all our operations.”

The farm’s fast-paced production sequences and need for dependable equipment are what drew the Dobra family to rely on a John Deere line up of machinery.

The fleet encompasses two Gator™ Utility Vehicles, one 6420 Tractor, two 6430 Tractors and a 7230R Tractor to maintain daily farm operations.

For harvest, which requires machines with precision given the dainty nature of the crop, Kevan turned to two 5090Ms and two 5083Es.

Kevan Dobra from The Loose Leaf Lettuce Company, one of Western Australia’s largest salad producers.

Tricky harvest

The mixed salad industry has a relentless nature, with rapid crop cycles that roll across the year.

Mizuna is harvested 14 days after planting and spinach about 24 days, while cos lettuce is one of the longer varieties being cut every 40 days.

The ideal cut for greens is one which fits leaves neatly on a fork – a tricky fraction to achieve using heavy machinery. Harvest occurs around 6.30am, when fresh dew allows for prime cutting conditions.

The John Deere 5 Series 5083E, which is equipped with a four-cylinder John Deere PowerTech™ 61.1 kW engine and the 5090M, steps up to 67 kW, and have the power to get through long days, while their refined hydraulic systems ensure the performance needed for exacting harvest requirements.

“At harvest, the tractors are working roughly between 8 and 12 hours a day for five days a week, and that’s why reliability is the key for us when it comes to machinery,” Kevan said.

“We have a large seasonal workforce, so machinery that has ease of use is also important to us. With our current fleet, we can train backpackers to work as operators during harvest quite quickly.”

Kevan Dobra.

Future focused

Over the years, the business has not only invested in a reliable fleet of equipment but has also prioritised efficient energy systems.

As Gingin has a sporadic 600mm annual rainfall, the main property is fully irrigated with fixed-overhead, pivot and fixed-ground watering systems that are powered with 200kw solar panels housed on the packhouse shed. Despite this risk mitigation, the climate is still the toughest challenge the business faces.

“We are constantly dealing with the elements, so we have learned to make the most of good conditions when we have them,” Kevan said.

Regardless of this, Kevan said there is no better feeling than walking into a grocery store and seeing The Loose Leaf Lettuce Company packs presented on a shelf or eating at a restaurant and knowing the salad originated from his farm.

“It makes all the hard work feel very worthwhile,” he said.

Find out more

Please visit JohnDeere.com.au or speak to your local John Deere dealer.

Cover image: Kevan Dobra says harvest is a delicate operation as each leaf must fit perfectly on a salad fork.