Dixon Patch Viewfinder: Aboard a Giant Tomato-Picking Machine

Tomato and sunflower fields are so abundant around Dixon, the town oughta have an annual Tomato-Sunflower Festival.

Local tomato harvesting, which runs from mid-July to the end of September, is peaking now, as trucks overflowing with bright-red globules head down the highway to the Campbell Soup operation on Pedrick Road and to other processors.

I arranged to hop on one of the giant tomato-picking machines the other day to bring you up close and personal with the operation and the operators. The field is at the very end of Currey Road, past the Purple Pearl Winery, within the Quail Oaks Ranch, and is farmed by Matt Cooley of Cool Patch corn maze fame.

He said an “AB2” tomato is grown for such harvesting locally. He owns the picking machine, and the Campbell Soup operation contracts with truckers to pick up the trailer-bins full of tomatoes.

While I was riding the harvesting machine the local swallows (swiftly darting birds) were having a field day scooping up all the insects forced into the air by the machine.

The harvester is staffed by a driver, and two sorting men who discard the unripe fruit. On the side, several tractor drivers maneuver their trailer-bins so they can be completely filled.

A fair amount of edible tomatoes are discarded, unfortunately.

Next time you have a Campbell soup with tomatoes, you’ll have a better idea of how it got to your table.