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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Author: search.filters.author.Higgins, A

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    Integrating and optimising farm-to-mill decisions to maximise industry profitability : SRDC Final report CSE005
    (2006) Higgins, A; Prestwidge, D; Sandell, G; Antony, G; Laredo, L; Thorburn, P
    Late in the 1990’s, the Australian sugar industry recognised the need to achieve increased integration across its value chain, so as to reduce costs and increase international competitiveness. Past projects and independent assessments highlighted the harvesting and transport interface as being a high priority due to its current logistical inefficiencies and large potential economic benefits from removing these. The logistical inefficiencies were partly manifested by the social and ownership differences between these sectors. CSE005 aimed to explore and implement multiple opportunities to achieve economic benefits at the harvesting and transport interface of the value chain, using a combined participatory action research and technical modelling approach. The project used case studies, initially being the Mourilyan, Mossman and Plane Creek regions. Each case study had a local industry working group, to drive the process of building models, validation, and developing pathways to adoption. Mourilyan was the basis for the model development due to the broad range of opportunities that the region was to explore and due to its technical capacity to work closely with the research team. This research team was multi-disciplinary across CSIRO, BSES and Harvesting Solutions due to the broad range of modelling expertise required in harvesting and transport. One of the first steps with the Mourilyan case study was to conceptualise the value chain in harvesting and transport, which defined the key linkages and drivers across these sectors. This was the basis for formulating a modelling framework which defined the interactions between the industry component models, some of which already existed within the industry. A modelling framework approach was better than building a super-model since it was more transparent to the local industry working groups, more robust and had greater industry ownership. Throughout the life of the Mourilyan case study, the modelling work underwent many revisions (over a one-year timeframe) through the participatory action research process. During this process, the case study regions developed and refined options (or scenarios) for the models. This provided the case study working group with a growing understanding of best-bet options for the local region and the benefits across the participants of the chain. Opportunities identified across the case study regions collectively fell into the themes of: increased time window of harvest through staggering the start times of harvesters; harvest best practice; improved seasonal logistics; transition to larger harvesting groups; and rationalisation/upgrading of transport infrastructure. Their collective potential benefits from these options was in excess of $2.00/tc for some case studies. The increased time window of harvest option was adopted immediately in the Mourilyan and Mossman regions due to minimal change management and no capital investment requirements, and continued to be implemented throughout the life and beyond CSE005. Harvest best practice started to be piloted in Mourilyan as a result of CSE005, though its adoption was often hampered by pressure to fill bins and disruptions. Whilst the Mourilyan and Mossman regions agreed the time window of harvest options were beneficial, an evaluation based on factual data was impossible due major changes in the base line evaluation (e.g. changed number of harvesting groups, tonnes crushed at each mill) from 2002 to 2005. About mid-way through CSE005, the Mourilyan and Plane Creek case studies ended pre-maturely due to reasons beyond the control of the project team. Whilst this was a disappointment for the project team and for many of the participants in the local industry working groups, the Herbert quickly became a replacement case study.
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    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.
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    Increasing the capacity to identify and action value chain integration opportunities
    (2005) Higgins, A; Archer, AA
    This report provides a review of the past value chain sugar research in Australia and other countries, and formulates key messages that the Australian industry can learn upon for future value chain activities. Compared to farming systems research, value chain research in sugar is not widely understood in the Australian industry, nor are the benefits of its existing research activities or new opportunities. In this document there are 11 current and past Australian projects reviewed that addressed value chain issues. An additional five projects from overseas sugar industries are also reviewed. Attitudes towards value chain research have been captured through focus groups and interviews in Maryborough and the Herbert, which are also summarised in this report. Value chain research in the Australian sugar industry has evolved substantially since its beginnings in 1997. Significant changes are in terms of learning from earlier projects incorporating their successful facets, and the increased value chain opportunities being addressed. Evolution of value chain issues and breadth of chain addressed is due to a growing acceptance within the industry of the change to achieve the benefits, but also external forces which create new priorities. This evolution is illustrated in Table 1 for the Australian sugar industry projects from 1997 to 2005, with the projects in ascending chronological order or start date.
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    Enhancing efficiency and integration from field to factory in the Herbert : SRDC Final report
    (2010) Sheedy, P; Giordani, P; Quabba, R; Higgins, A; Kent, G; Everitt, P; Harvesting solutions.
    The Herbert sugar region underwent major strategic change in the harvesting and transport sectors, which will involve $7M investment in siding rationalisation and a substantial reduction in the number of harvesting groups. These strategic changes have the potential for large cost savings to the local region (potentially over $2/tc as seen in the SRDC project CSE005) leading to greater sustainability in these two sectors, if optimally implemented to achieve the economic and social goals of each of the participants in the growing, harvesting and milling sectors. The goal of this project was to provide the region with a capacity to better manage operational and seasonal planning in harvesting & transport. Because the project involved several organisations and broad R&D plan, four working groups have been formed around key deliverables of the project: SugarMax, Harvest/Transport Integration, Harvest Haul; and Evaluation. Each small working group comprised of researcher and local representatives, though the entire project team met in Ingham up to five times per year to report progress and plan next steps