Farming systems and production management

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Development and implementation of harvest management planning tools for the maximisation of CCS in the Tully district
(2010) Stainlay, T
The Tully Sugar Limited milling district is characterised by large geographical, varietal, and seasonal differences in sugar yield. Growers are increasingly looking for ways to increase profitability by capitalising on these differences. This is a multifaceted task as there are several variables such as variety, crop class, crop age, CCS, cane yield, and soil type to consider simultaneously when planning the harvest. Adding to the complexity of the harvest planning task in the Tully district is influence of large harvesting groups, high mill crushing rates, and a wet tropical environment. A study of Tully Sugar Industry productivity data by Lawes et al..2004 indicated that, weather effects excluded, the time of harvest and crop age at harvest had the biggest effect on CCS and biomass accumulation. The harvest planning decision making process identified by the growers in the SRDC funded “Working Together For Our Future” Action Group working on Low CCS indicated the key drivers considered by growers when planning a harvest schedule are: • time of harvest in the previous season, • agronomic factors, • block topography, • group rotation, • the growers view of the climate forecast. Using these factors growers formulate a harvest schedule for their cane blocks - “Harvest Plan”. Typically growers then vary this plan to taking account of the weather and transport logistics at the time of harvest. This complex decision making process can be simplified if growers had the ability to produce a number of management scenarios using decision support tools. A review of harvest planning decision support tools revealed that there were no “off the shelf “ decision support tools available for users. However the CSIRO SugarMax models could be adapted for use in harvest planning. The SugarMax tool was developed through previous SRDC projects CSE003 (SRDC, 2005) and CSE005 (SRDC, 2006) to provide increased capacity for growers to learn from and adopt improved time-of-harvest schedules.
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
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).

Farming systems and production management

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