It would be faster to machine-dry every harvest. We don't, and the farmers we work with in Bali are part of why. Sun-drying on raised bamboo racks is slower — it depends on weather windows and takes longer than a kiln — but it's the method that's been used on this coastline for generations, and it holds colour and gel strength that machine-drying tends to strip out.
Raised racks matter as much as sun exposure: keeping the seaweed off the ground reduces sand and debris contact, which cuts down on the hand-sorting work later and keeps impurity levels low going into baling.
Drying is also where moisture testing starts. Before anything moves to sorting, it's checked to keep shipments free of mould risk in transit — a step that matters more on long ocean routes than most buyers realise until they've had a container come back out of spec.
It's a slower process, but it's a large part of why buyers who've tried a batch tend to come back for the next one.