SEVERAL years ago cherry grower Mike Omeg, who is always looking for ways to do a better job and increase his bottom line, sat down and asked himself one critical question: "How can I reduce my operating costs without hurting the quality of the fruit?" Omeg, who farms 375 acres of cherries in The Dalles, OR, considered numerous factors, but there was one that really stood out: His harvest costs were too high. He was paying pickers to fill buckets of cherries that allegedly weighed 20 pounds. The problem is, there wasn't 20 pounds in the average bucket. Omeg knew this because he is a fastidious record keeper.
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