Heated Hole Puncher Ready for Field Use

With beds shaped, dripline installed, mulch laid, and fumigation en route, a strawberry grower’s next concern is when to burn or punch holes before planting. Hole preparation can be time consuming and therefore costly work, requiring large labor crews to accomplish. Using rudimentary tools, a single worker can burn holes for two acres in a whole day. The land preparation before hole punching is done mechanically with tools and implements, so why not extend the effort to hole punching?

**Figure 1.** Final Heated Hole Puncher prototype being tested in a commercial field in Watsonville, CA.

Last week marked the anniversary of the Heated Hole Puncher’s public availability, a machine developed through collaboration among the California Strawberry Commission, Cal Poly Strawberry Center and Precision Ag.

The Heated Hole Puncher was designed to reduce costs by increasing farm efficiency and safety. This tool is a three-point mounted tractor implement that punches/burns a hole in plastic mulch as the tractor advances along the bed. The system requires only a tractor operator to function and boasts an impressive ability to cover 1-2 acres per hour with a single tractor, which is 10x faster than manual systems. Since the burning process is mechanically timed, holes are more consistently spaced, which allows growers to more accurately predict yield and better estimate the number of bare root transplants to order. The tool applies more heat to the bed compared to manual burning, which allows growers to operate in the lower temperatures of early morning operations.

Tony Sandoval (Co-founder, Precision Ag) helped bring this tool to market and is currently the only manufacturer and supplier. The Heated Hole Puncher is currently designed to serve the Northern growing regions.

**Figure 2.** The Heated Hole Puncher being used in a field in Watsonville, CA as fabricated by Precision Ag.

For current availability and pricing, please contact Precision Ag directly:

Tony Sandoval
tony@pas.farm
831-747-0086

Hector Camacho (for inquiries in Spanish)
hector@pas.farm
831-206-5552

Growers may also choose to build their own heated hole puncher. The California Strawberry Commission and Cal Poly Strawberry Center provide resources such as CAD files and a BOM for this option. Please visit the website or contact relevant engineers:

Will Kraemer Aidan Fischer
wkraemer@calstrawberry.org afischer@calstrawberry.org