While all agricultural commodities run the risk of being damaged at some point during the production process, eggs are particularly vulnerable.
A little too much pressure at some point either at the producer level or the grading station and the egg is cracked or broken, making it virtually worthless and cutting into the profitability of the operation. However, thanks to the "crackless egg" such problems could soon go the way of the dinosaur.
With funding help from the Prince Edward Island ADAPT Council, the Egg Commodity Marketing Board worked with Sensor Wireless Inc. to test the revolutionary technology. Sensor Wireless is an Island company that first grabbed headlines when it developed the "smart spud"-- an electronic potato designed to detect bruising problems harvesting and storage.
The Crackless Egg works much the same way. It is built to the exact weight and size specifications of a Grade A egg. It can be placed either in the production line at the farm level or in a grading station. Every time pressure is applied to the egg-- if it drops, rolls or comes in contact with a solid object, it will send a reading to a hand held computer. It also offers a temperature reading, and it allows high pressure areas to be "flagged" in the computer so the operator can study the data. "It allows the producer or the grader to identify pressure points in their operation where eggs might be cracked or broken," said Murray Myles, general manager of the Prince Edward Island Egg Commodity Marketing Board. "Those can then be corrected-- maybe it's something like the turn in the line is too sharp or there is too much of a drop." It is designed to be placed anywhere in the egg gathering, conveying or packaging systems, travelling among the eggs as they move along. Myles said the unit performed "flawlessly" during the project.
The project completely analysed eight Prince Edward Island operations; two laying/grading units, three mechanically (auto) picked operations, two hand picked barns and a pack-only station. The technology has the potential to increase income dramatically. For a flock of 25,000 birds, reducing the number of cracked or broken eggs by one per cent would mean a additional $200 a day to the bottom line. The project found some of the main areas of concern were eggs rolling into eggs, pressure on the egg saver wires in some of the cages and at the entrance or exit of vertical lift elevators. There were no problems detected during the trucking of the product.
Since the technology is expensive, Myles said the industry is now discussing how it can best be used. He said there are several options including the board purchasing a "crackless egg" and allocating it to producers and graders ,contracting the service with Sensor Wireless, or having groups of producers join together to purchase an egg.
"I think the project has showed the technology works," Myles said. "Now, we are just figuring out the best way to apply it for the benefit of the entire industry.
This article is one of a series prepared for the Prince Edward Island Agriculture Awareness Committee to highlight innovations in the agriculture industry.