Farming systems and production management

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://elibrary2.sugarresearch.com.au/handle/11079/13844

Research outcomes: Growers and harvesters benefit from the ongoing research in productivity improvement, production management and agronomical techniques. Developed technologies and management practices that enhance productivity and demonstrate a high rate of return on investment.

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A collaborative approach to Precision Agriculture RDE for the Australian Sugar Industry : Final report CSE022
(Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2014) Bramley, R; Schroeder, B; Baillie, C
Strong sugar industry interest in Precision Agriculture (PA) has developed during the 2000s on the back of considerable progress with PA in other Australian agricultural sectors (grains and wine in particular), attempts in the Herbert (HCPSL and partners), and more recently in other districts, to develop a regional harvest management and yield mapping capability, and increased support for initiatives deemed of value in minimising possible impacts of sugarcane production on the Great Barrier Reef, including the provision of grants to growers for the purchase of GPS guidance systems and variable rate controllers for fertilizer spreaders. Against this background, the then Sugar Research and Development Corporation commissioned the reviews contained in SRDC Technical report 3/2007. A subsequent workshop held to mark the delivery of these reviews identified a number of PA-related R+D priorities which collectively could be characterised as being aimed at properly positioning the sugar industry for appropriate PA adoption, supported by access to the necessary technology, skills, methodological protocols and case studies. This project emerged from that process. Its intended focus, was to be based around core field sites in the Bundaberg, Burdekin and Herbert districts which were established with the intent of both PA research and demonstration.
A cooperative systems model for the Mackay regional sugar industry : SRDC Final report MSA003
(SRDC, 2006) Fleming, GF; Markley, JA; Raines, AJ; O'Hara, IO; Crane, JA
In 2000-2001 the Mackay sugar industry embarked on a path of rapid and major change, driven by a depressed world sugar market and specific regional problems of drought and disease. The changes were initially directed purely at cost reduction, and employed a raft of technologies including a web portal to reduce staff numbers and streamline grower-harvester-miller interfaces.
A literature review of harvesting operations and their implication on soil compaction and yield in sugar cane : Final report PR02012
(BSES, 2002) Blatch, T
A significant effort has been applied to the investigation of soil compaction in the sugar cane industry. Most recently research performed by Dr Mike Braunack at Tully in the wet tropics of Queensland, Australia, has attempted to quantify the relationships that exist between harvesting of sugar cane, soil compaction and yield. Harvesting has the greatest impact on soil physical properties as the cane harvester and haul-out machines, the heaviest machinery used in the production of sugar cane, traffic the interspace at least two times for each implement and are required to harvest at soil moisture contents that range from field capacity to wilting point to ensure continuity of supply to their respective sugar cane mill.
A management assistance package for optimising harvester; infield transport productivity : SRDC Final report BS124S
(BSES, 1998) Ridge, DR; Powell, J
The two year project to develop a management assistance package for optimising harvester/infield transport productivity was completed during 1997.
A national climate change research strategy for primary industries
(Land and Water Australia, 2008)
Australia’s primary industries are projected to be significantly affected by climate change. The changes in climate over the next few decades will be substantial, but the effects will vary across the country. Some regions will experience average warming of up to 1.8ºC by 2030; in other areas average rainfall will decrease as much as 40 per cent by 2070 (compared to 1990). These impacts must be understood to minimise risk and maximise opportunities.
A new cropping system for the Central district : SRDC Final report BSS269
(2009) Hussey, B
The project aimed to facilitate establishment of new cropping system trials with both existing and new productivity groups by providing equipment and technical guidance; develop best practice guidelines for dual-row cropping systems; develop 'cost of production comparison models' and a 'system change-over kit' to facilitate decision making and system change; monitor and evaluate the environmental performance of the system in terms of run-off water quality; target 1000 ha planted under the new cropping system by 2008; and conduct state-wide extension in year 4. The activities undertaken to meet these objectives are discussed.
A participatory approach to improving furrow irrigation efficiency : SRDC Final report BSS206
(2002) Linedale, AI
A combination of low water use efficiencies on a significant proportion of furrow-irrigated farms, and a serious decline in water availability for a majority of farms, gave strong impetus to improving application efficiencies of furrow irrigation, which is practiced over 35% of total cane production area in the Bundaberg district. This project, which was based in the Millaquin/Qunaba area, has identified the main operation of contributors to low application efficiencies and methods to alleviate them.Evaluation of data from three irrigation seasons using the irrigation simulation model SIRMOD provided practical, low-cost solutions to a range of problems encountered. In most cases, ensuring suitable and stable inputs, and refinement of inflow rates and cut-off times raised application efficiencies substantially. Deep infiltration, outflow, and losses associated with end-fill were strongly reduced.The project demonstrated that monitoring of common operational factors such as inflow, advance rate and cut-off time, provides excellent information for evaluation of irrigation efficiencies. The simulation model SIRMOD proved particularly useful in evaluation of irrigation practices and provided direction for improvement of application efficiencies. Participating growers involved in the monitoring programs were able to form action plans quickly which modified inefficient practices. In many cases, this led to highly significant improvements to application efficiencies and resulted in better use of available water. A survey conducted at the close of the project indicated that improvements to a number of practices associated with application efficiency are underway.Monitoring and evaluation outcomes were relayed to participating growers through shed meetings, demonstrations and personal contact. Technology transfer to district growers involved similar events and included also field days, workshops, bus tours, displays and presentations. A practical furrow irrigators? handbook was produced for ongoing extension.
A participatory approach towards improving industry sector profits through improved harvesting efficiency : SRDC Final report BSS227
(2002) Agnew, JR
Recent productivity gains through the introduction of high yielding varieties, green cane harvesting, improved drainage and irrigation have resulted in larger, mostly lodged crops with increased suckering. As a result, ccs levels have declined, dirt in supply and extraneous matter levels have increased, and stool damage at harvest is obvious. Growers do not always connect their role in crop presentation to ease of harvest and resultant cane quality. Failure to hill up plant cane adequately and match it to harvester basecutter angle; inconsistent row spacing and lack of attention to farm layout, headlands and haul roads are the main deficiencies. Harvester operators and harvest crews may also have goals conflicting with cane quality and quality of ground job. The standard system of harvester payment, which is based on $/tonne, rewards speed of operation. Stool damage, cane loss and poor billet quality result. The mills? transport limitations and need for continuous supply may impose restrictions on harvesting where by the harvester must deliver a fixed quantity of cane within a short time frame. This can result in poor ground job and higher cane losses (because fan speed is increased in an attempt to achieve cleaning at high pour rates). Short and damaged billets can result from pressure to achieve high pour rates and high bin weights. Encouraging harvesting under wet conditions results in field damage. The viability of the north Queensland sugar industry is in jeopardy. Industry leaders believe there are large productivity and profitability gains to be made by adopting harvesting best practice (HBP).
A project scoping document to SRDC on harvesting RD&E
(2010)
Mechanical harvesting of sugarcane has been a major success story for the Australian sugar industry. However, the Australian sugarcane industry has suffered a plateau in productivity (Wilson and Leslie 1997) and there is considerable evidence that mechanisation is a component of this plateau in performance. SRDC has provided significant investment in harvester technology and harvesting operations. This research has been fragmented and has not been carried out within the context of the supply chain or a farming system framework. However, this research has clearly shown the magnitude of harvesting losses and their ultimate effect on productivity is clearly associated with the harvesting system.
A reactive extension and monitoring program to reduce dirt levels in the cane supply : SRDC Final report BS1495
(1997) Ridge, DR; Linedale, AI
A regional partnership approach to developing a sustainable sugar cane system : SRDC Final report MAS001
(SRDC, 2007) Rudd, A; Parker, D
The Mossman milling area has a unique place in the Australian sugar industry; not only is it the most northern of all mill areas but the Mossman Central Mill is one of the oldest independent milling companies and still substantially owned by its cane suppliers. It also has also established a reputation for innovation in both the processing and growing of sugarcane. By 2002 Mossman and most of the Australian sugar industry was suffering significant financial difficulties following a decade of expansion.
A review of institutional arrangements in the Burdekin irrigation area with a view to managing sustainable farming practices in the region : SRDC Final report CG018
(2007) Danzi, E
In the late 1980’s the Burdekin dam commenced operation and resulted in a large area of land being cleared and converted to irrigation. This influx of water has caused the groundwater level to rise alarmingly over the past 20 years from its previous level typically 10 to 15 meters below the surface to around 0.5m in some places in 2009. This is an alarming increase and if not rectified and reversed quickly will lead to significant crop losses and is likely to render some land unviable for farming in the next 5 years.
A review of opportunities to improve the design and performance of sugarcane harvesters
(2010) Davis, RJ; Whiteing, C; Norris, CP
This review is a response to the recognition by the SRDC that the Australian sugarcane industry needs an informed basis from which to make decisions as to appropriate investments in harvesting sector research. There is a renewed interest at a grower and regional level for improved harvester designs and harvesting practices. SRDC continues to receive requests from industry to support sugarcane harvester research and development. This review looks at component research on the Australian type ‘chopped cane’ sugarcane harvester, harvesting performance and harvest and transport system analysis undertaken in Australia and overseas and considers the benefits delivered. Opportunities to improve the design and performance and reduce the costs of sugarcane harvesting along with recommendations for further research, development and extension to facilitate productive and profitable adoption are identified. It is concluded that ‘chopped cane’ harvester and harvesting performance research has delivered significant direct and indirect benefits to the Australian sugar industry and a number of key examples are highlighted to demonstrate these benefits.
A survey of roller train; chopper optimisation in the Burdekin district
(2003) Sandell, G
This survey was designed to assess the service provided for implementing Roller-Train Chopper Optimisation (RTCO) in the Burdekin and the RTCO product itself. The survey was carried out to assess the future potential of RTCO in the Burdekin, to quantify market perceptions and to respond to negative feedback from some Burdekin industry personnel.Soil-in-cane was the only problem identified with the RTCO product, and mill pressure on bin weights was put forward as a limiting factor on adoption. Most respondents would optimise in the future if the soil-in-cane problem were solved. Evidence from the survey suggests that soil-in-cane is related to the high butt-lifter rpm used in RTCO at the time. This issue can be resolved through further research and the payoff is likely to be high.
Accelerating precision agriculture to decision agriculture : a review of on-farm telecommunications challenges and opportunities in supporting a digital agriculture future for Australia
(University of New England, 2017) Lamb, DW
This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources as part of its Rural R&D for Profit programme. The P2D project involves all Rural Research and Development Corporations, and is focused on three main aims: facilitating the development of digital technology in Australian agriculture; fostering the establishment of appropriate legal frameworks, data systems and access to critical datasets; identifying the data communications systems required to deliver the benefits of digital agriculture to the Australia farm and agribusiness sectors.
Accelerating precision agriculture to decision agriculture: the needs and drivers for the present and future of digital agriculture in Australia
(Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, 2017) Zhang, A; Baker, I; Jakku, E; Llewellyn, R
The aim of the project was to benchmark Australian producers’ needs, perceived risks and benefits, and expectations associated with digital agriculture and big data context. Such understanding will inform strategies aimed at 1) better utilising agricultural data to enhance productivity and profitability, and 2) better capitalising on the opportunities created by digital agriculture and big data. In consultation with P2D project members and participating RDCs, CSIRO designed the survey questionnaire and conducted a survey of 1000 producers across 17 agricultural industries during the period of 7 March to 18 April 2017. The sampling specifications for each industry was defined in consultation with relevant participating RDCs. The study investigated producers’ needs, perceived risks and benefits, and expectations from three aspects: telecommunication infrastructure, the status of current data collection, and data sharing and concerns in the big data context.
Accurate and consistent bed forming to promote better farming practices
(2007) Durrington, A
Executive Summary:The aim of the project was to establish an economic and sustainable way of forming beds in our area to aid the sustainability of the SYDJV. Key results from our project were economic and environmental benefits. Learning’s from the project were the economics, sustainability and the environmental effects of ‘one pass’ operations surpassed our previous practises in all aspects.
Achieving the world's best practice harvesting and transport costs for the NSW sugar industry
(2007) Beattie, P; Dines, G; Crossley, R; Prestwidge, D; Higgins, A; Laredo, L; Power, A; Sandell, G; Tickle, A
This project set out to develop innovative techniques for cane supply management within the NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative Ltd (NSWSMC), assess and promote harvester group optimisation within the NSW industry and to aim for world’s best practice harvest costs. In his independent assessment of the sugar industry Hildebrand (2002) reported that forecast prices in 2004 - 2006 would create an urgent need for productivity and cost improvements for the industry to remain internationally competitive. Hildebrand also recommended worldwide benchmarking of activities against the strongest competitors followed by implementation of cost effective options. This project concentrated on the largest cost item for cane production; harvesting, to develop innovative techniques for efficiency and cost improvement with the aim of achieving worlds' best practice harvesting costs of $4 per tonne of cane. Additionally harvest and cane supply management are significant milling costs and with the need to reduce unit costs it was essential to find ways to automate harvest management and reduce the workload for NSWSMC Cane Supply Managers at each mill. The NSW sugar industry currently has one of the most efficient cooperative harvesting arrangements and is well positioned to make additional steps to capture additional cost savings across the NSW sugar industry value chain. These economies are essential with the co-generation plans for the NSW industry. Additional costs of whole cane harvesting can be partly offset by the efficiency gains in all mill areas. The project aimed to investigate and implement whole-of-system solutions for reduced costs in the harvesting and transport sectors of the NSW Sugar industry. At the start of the project we were interested in examining scenarios involving changes to harvesting and transport, which include reduced harvesting groups, harvest best practice, optimised/rationalised loading pad locations and automated harvest management. Such changes required a different approach and this project saw excellent collaboration between organisations and agencies involved in sugar industry research and development. Initial stages of the project involved the NSWSMC and Agtrix working together for the implementation of the harvest management system, now called CHOMP. Agtrix and the NSWSMC pioneered the development of this program that is now used widely in the Australian sugar industry. Work with CSIRO and Harvesting Solutions centred on utilising modelling tools developed through other SRDC funded projects like CSE005 to optimise locations of cane loading pads in NSW and to examine efficiencies associated with harvest group amalgamations.
Adapting soybean for profitable rotations in sugarcane farming systems : SRDC Final report
(2005) James, A
Cropping of soybean has been shown by the yield decline joint venture to increase the yield of the following sugar crop by 15 to 30 percent. One impediment to the increase of soybean in sugarcane production systems is that the financial benefit of inclusion of a fallow crop like soybean into a sugarcane production system is delayed until sugar crops harvested in the following years. However, by inclusion of a grain soybean option, growers are more likely to manage the crop better and can gain the financial return from harvest of grain in addition to benefits to the following cane crop delivered by improved soil health. This project sought to complete varietal evaluation of experimental varieties with improved potential for harvest of grain through to the point of commercialisation to industry. Varietal evaluation trials were conducted at sites in the Burdekin, and on the Atherton Tablelands at early, mid season and late summer planting dates and in the south at Bundaberg and Nambour also at late summer planting dates and in the Burdekin during the dry season. In addition farmer participation in varietal evaluation was encouraged via strip trials. Ultimately eleven strip trials were conducted in the second year of the project and five in the third. In addition large scale seed increase of the new variety was conducted at Nambour and at Walkamin and a second round of seed increase sown in June 2005 in northern Australia. Soybean is unique among grains in having a very high content of protein of a type which is highly digestible and finds ready acceptance in stock feed milling. Grain of light hilum varieties is also readily accepted into higher-value human consumption markets. During the last year of this project, members of the Northern Australian Soybean Industry Association (NASIA) were involved in commercial evaluation and release of the new variety named Stuart. In particular North Queensland Tropical Seeds and Bettacrop conducted pre-release evaluation and also participated in the next round of evaluations along with Mt Tyson seeds Queensland Cotton, Beangrowers Australia and Philp Brodie Grains. The new variety has been licenced to NASIA for commercial production. The new soybean variety ‘Stuart’ was named after Mt Stuart south of Townsville, following the theme of local mountains. Stuart is adapted to coastal production from Nambour to Mossman. It has a very light grey hilum and is suitable for some human consumption uses. It has high levels of nematode and rust resistance, maturity a week or more earlier than Leichhardt and is adapted to both wet and dry season planting in north Qld and has generally higher grain yields. Stuart is taller than Leichhardt and adapted to row widths from 50 to 130 cm. It has a more erect and open canopy than Leichhardt, making control of insects by insecticide application slightly easier. Lodging may however occur with plant populations over 35 plants per square metre or in early-season sowing. Good quality grain possessing light hilum and apparent suitability for food grade uses was produced from strip trials in several farmers fields. Relative to existing varieties Leichhardt and YY, Stuart offers higher grain yield and higher value grain through access to food grade uses rather than feed or oilseed crushing. Release of a new soybean variety and an ongoing varietal improvement program will help to underpin sustainability in tropical cropping systems and provide a basis for new industry development.
Adoption of an optimal season length for increased industry profitability : SRDC Final report BSS264
(BSES, 2007) Di Bella, LP; Cristaudo, A; Wood, AW
The project aimed to maximise commercial cane sugar (CCS), sugar yields (TSPH) and industry profitability in the Herbert region by exploiting regional variation in CCS, soil moisture and trafficability. There is significant potential to increase total sugar production, and individual grower and district CCS through better management of harvesting scheduling.