Hillwood Berries is a leading berry producer with operations in Hillwood, Tasmania, and Bundaberg, Queensland. With over 74 hectares under cultivation and four berry varieties in production, Hillwood has built a strong reputation for innovation and quality across the Australian berry industry.
Innovation isn’t just a buzzword at Hillwood, it’s in the farm’s DNA. The team has developed its own in-house picking and yield management software and employs a dedicated crew of engineers, developers, and analysts focused on continuously improving and refining the farm’s systems.
Labour is one of the biggest costs for any intensive berry farm, often accounting for 40–45% of turnover. For Hillwood, the drive to innovate began with a focus on efficiency and data. Simon Dornauf explains that the farm pioneered direct recruitment of seasonal workers and developed software to track productivity in real time.
"Once you start collecting these data sets, you start seeing where efficiencies can be made," Simon says. "For example, we found that moving fruit from our tunnels to the warehouse cost about 7 cents per kilo. It doesn’t sound like much, but that’s around $170,000 per year for strawberries alone, before even considering fuel and vehicle maintenance."
These insights led Hillwood to explore autonomous solutions to reduce labour costs, increase efficiency, and limit the environmental impact of traditional vehicles.
Enter the Burro Grande
In 2024, Hillwood introduced the Burro Grande, a fully electric, autonomous vehicle designed to transport packed fruit from the field directly to the cool room. This wasn’t just about replacing utility vehicles - it was about rethinking the process. By moving to a trailer-based system, Hillwood significantly improved speed and operational efficiency.
"The uptake was impressive," Simon recalls. "Reducing labour can sometimes create friction, but the team really embraced it. Everyone invested in it, and it integrated seamlessly into our workflow."
The Burro Grande has brought a range of additional benefits to Hillwood Berries. By reducing transport time from the field to the cool room, it helps preserve fruit quality and extend shelf life. Fewer vehicles onsite have improved workplace safety by minimising traffic risks and potential accidents. As a fully electric vehicle, the Burro Grande is also highly sustainable, running for approximately 8.5 hours per charge at an energy cost of just $4.80 per day. Its Boss Web mapping system offers operational flexibility, allowing the vehicle to navigate hundreds of pickup locations across the farm and efficiently manage single or multiple collection points depending on the day’s harvest load.
To further reduce labour overheads and minimise the need for manual supervision, Hillwood implemented a custom notification system developed by Agri Automation Australia. Integrated directly with the Burro Cloud platform, the system delivers SMS alerts to operators only when a Burro enters or exits predefined geofenced areas such as loading zones, warehouses, or public road crossings. This targeted approach removes the need for constant monitoring while improving safety, reliability and overall operational efficiency across the farm.
For Simon, the Burro Grande is just the beginning. Hillwood Berries sees autonomous transport as the first step toward broader automation, future projects include low-chemical crop applications, UVC light crop management, and, eventually, fully autonomous harvest operations.
"AI and autonomy are coming whether we like it or not," Simon explains. "The question is how we work with it to achieve success. Start simple, define what success looks like, and have your team champion it."
Working with Agri Automation
Collaboration with Agri Automation, particularly founder Cam Clifford, has been pivotal to Hillwood’s success. From setup to training and ongoing support, the team has been there every step of the way.
"Cam has been integral," Simon says. "Any technical issues were resolved immediately, and the after-sales support has been unbelievable. It’s been a key part of making this innovation a reality on our farm."
For growers considering robotics or AI, Simon’s advice is clear: know what you want to achieve and define what success looks like before investing, ensure your team is engaged and champions the adoption of new technology, and start with simpler tasks before scaling up to more complex applications.
Hillwood Berries exemplifies how innovation, data-driven decisions, and strategic adoption of automation can transform berry farming. By focusing on efficiency, quality, and sustainability, the farm is not only reducing costs but also paving the way for the future of technology-driven agriculture.