Assembly Line

Harvesting

A crop or animal product is gathered at the moment it is worth most. Timing matters more than speed, because quality starts to fall as soon as the crop is cut or picked.

95 lines that use it

Almonds 4 stations Apples 4 stations Bamboo 4 stations Barley 3 stations Beeswax 5 stations · 1 raw source Black tea 7 stations · 1 raw source Blue agave 5 stations Cabbage 5 stations Canned tuna 7 stations · 19 raw sources Carnauba palm wax 3 stations Castor beans 3 stations Cattle 3 stations Cattle hide 5 stations Chickens 3 stations Chili pepper 5 stations Cocoa beans 4 stations Coconut milk 6 stations · 22 raw sources Coconut oil 6 stations · 1 raw source Coffee cherries 3 stations Cork oak bark 3 stations Corn 3 stations Cricket bat 7 stations · 9 raw sources Cucumber 4 stations Cultured pearl 6 stations · 2 raw sources Dartboard 7 stations · 22 raw sources Down 5 stations Durum wheat 3 stations Eggs 3 stations Flax 3 stations Frozen peas 6 stations · 4 raw sources Gelatin 7 stations · 4 raw sources Green tea 7 stations · 1 raw source Hazelnuts 4 stations Honey 7 stations · 1 raw source Honeycomb 4 stations Hops 3 stations Hot sauce 7 stations · 15 raw sources Incense 5 stations · 3 raw sources Indigo 3 stations Juniper berries 3 stations Lacquer 8 stations · 8 raw sources Licorice 6 stations · 10 raw sources Linen 6 stations · 2 raw sources Maple sap 3 stations Maple syrup 7 stations · 1 raw source Matcha 5 stations · 1 raw source Mezcal 6 stations · 12 raw sources Microwave popcorn 8 stations · 20 raw sources Mustard seed 3 stations Natural rubber latex 3 stations Nori 6 stations · 1 raw source Oats 3 stations Oil palm fruit 3 stations Olives 5 stations Onions 5 stations Oranges 3 stations Palm oil 8 stations · 2 raw sources Pasteurized milk 6 stations · 1 raw source Peanuts 5 stations Pearl oysters 5 stations Peas 4 stations Perfume 7 stations · 13 raw sources Pigs 4 stations Port wine 6 stations · 19 raw sources Potatoes 4 stations Prosecco 5 stations · 12 raw sources Rapeseed 5 stations Raw cotton 3 stations Raw milk 3 stations Rice 3 stations Roasted coffee 8 stations · 2 raw sources Rye 5 stations Sausage casing 8 stations · 4 raw sources Seaweed 3 stations Silk cocoons 4 stations Soybeans 3 stations Steel scrap 5 stations · 3 raw sources Sugar beet 3 stations Sugarcane 4 stations Tea leaves 3 stations Tequila 7 stations · 13 raw sources Timber 5 stations Tomatoes 5 stations Tonic water 5 stations · 19 raw sources Tuna 3 stations Utility pole 5 stations · 1 raw source Vanilla extract 7 stations · 7 raw sources Vanilla pods 3 stations Wheat 3 stations White rice 6 stations · 1 raw source Whitefish 5 stations Wine 8 stations · 21 raw sources Wine grapes 5 stations Wool fleece 3 stations Wool yarn 5 stations · 2 raw sources

What it looks like on the line

  • PerfumeCollect the plant oils. Flowers, citrus peel, vanilla pods, resins and woods are gathered. Each material is harvested at the point its aroma is strongest.
  • Castor beansGather the spiny capsules. Each fruit is a spiny capsule holding large glossy seeds with brown mottling. Harvesting needs care, because the seeds are poisonous and can trigger allergies in sensitive workers.
  • RapeseedCombine the dry swaths. Combining waits until seed drops below 10% moisture, normally 5 to 10 days after swathing. Rubber fingers lift the row gently. The cylinder turns at about 60 percent of cereal speed, and cleaning leans on shaking over wind, since the seed is light enough to blow out the back.
  • Pasteurized milkMilk and chill on the farm. Cows are milked by machine and the milk goes straight into a cooled tank. Cold slows the bacteria that would sour it.
  • Cork oak barkPeel the bark with axes. A crew of about five people cuts the bark into planks with small axes. Stripping only happens from May to August, when the bark separates cleanly without hurting the tree.
  • DartboardStrip the sisal leaves. Sisal is a stiff, tough fiber from the Agave sisalana plant, the same genus that gives us tequila. A machine strips the skin off the leaves so only the strong fibers remain.
  • DownCollect at meat plants. Over 99% of goose and duck plumage is a by-product of meat packing, usually wet-plucked after slaughter. Live plucking also happens, including in Poland, Hungary and China, and has been condemned as cruel.
  • Steel scrapCollect the worn-out steel. Scrap comes from end-of-life vehicles, structural steel, white goods and offcuts left from making new products. Scrapyards usually pay by weight.
  • ChickensCatch at market weight. Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight between four and six weeks of age. Slower-growing breeds take about 14 weeks.
  • PotatoesDig and shake out the tubers. A commercial harvester scoops up the plant and surrounding earth onto a steel apron chain that separates out soil. More complex designs add vine choppers, shakers and blowers.
  • TunaEncircle it with a net. A purse seine is a net that hangs vertically in the water, with weights holding the bottom edge down and floats on top. A boat sets it around the school, and the net encloses the fish rather than snaring them as a gillnet would.
  • Blue agaveTruck the piñas out. Hearts normally weigh 40 to 90 kg and go by truck to the distillery, where they are usually halved or quartered before baking. The cut leaves have no use in the industry beyond an occasional load of compost.