Southern Cross Farms drives full-orchard intelligence
Southern Cross Farms, managing nearly 700 hectares of citrus in Australia, has transformed their approach to yield monitoring by replacing manual sampling with Aerobotics’ TrueFruit technology. By moving from 10% visibility to 100% orchard intelligence, Southern Cross leverages AI-driven data to optimize fruit size, improve packout rates, and make proactive management decisions across all their citrus blocks.
Crop Type: Citrus
Location: Australia
From Manual Samples to Full-Orchard Intelligence
The Challenge: The 10% Visibility Gap
Southern Cross Farms, managing almost 700 hectares of citrus, relied on manual caliper tools and packhouse estimates to track fruit size — covering less than 10% of the farm. This narrow sampling led to inaccurate assumptions, delayed decisions, and missed opportunities to optimise fruit quality and harvest timing.
“Manually sizing a small amount of fruit didn’t give us the data we needed.”
The Solution
To overcome the limitations, Southern Cross adopted TrueFruit, an AI fruit sizing mobile app and platform that uses smartphone imagery. Using the same time and labor as manual methods, the team now takes pictures in the field and collects accurate fruit size data across 100% of their citrus blocks.
“We now cover all blocks and get more accurate results.”
The Impact
TrueFruit has enabled a shift from reactive to proactive management, delivering measurable gains:
Earlier decisions on thinning, irrigation, and nutrition
Optimised input use, reducing waste and improving efficiency
Higher packout rates with more fruit in profitable size categories
Improved market alignment, reducing rejects, and increasing revenue
