Two French vegetable farmers, Gaël and Pierre Landais, have managed to boost their bean production by buying a self-propelled harvester, called the Big Jack, made in the USA. “Before, it would take us between 20 and 30 hours to harvest one hectare of beans,” explains Gaël. “With the new machine, we can do it in 5 hours!”
Whilst the new machinery is a significant investment for the brothers (bought second hand in the Indre-et-Loire for €100,000), it is the first self-propelled harvester in Charente and can harvest the 25 hectares of green beans in record time.