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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Subject: search.filters.subject.Harvest performance

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    Development of a real time information system for Clarence harvesters : SRDC Final report CHC002
    (SRDC, 2008) Rose, P; Taylor, D; Crossley, R
    The Clarence Harvesting Co-operative was formed from the amalgamation of two existing harvesting co-operatives, which in the later years of the project consisted of four harvesters cutting a total of between 350,000 and 500,000 tonnes of cane each year. Soon after the formation of the co-operative the managers discovered that access to near real time information about the supply chain was required to realise the benefits of the larger harvesting operation. The required information was available but stored in separate and proprietary systems within the sugar mill. This made it difficult to access, correlate and deliver the information in a meaningful and timely manner to assist harvesting crews. A data transfer system to provide this information was conceived to integrate with a mobile phone-based consignment system planned by NSW Sugar. SRDC provided funding to allow Agtrix Pty Ltd to develop the solution, which was called SHIRT (Supply and Harvester Information in Real Time). SHIRT provided harvesting crews with valuable information about what was happening in the transport and milling operations as soon as the information was available. The data was transferred from each proprietary system in real time to a single external database. The data was then linked and merged, enabling meaningful reports to be collated and delivered to harvesting crews through a web site. Accessing the information through the web site was restricted by employing an access and authorisation process that filtered the data available to users based on their roles (grower, manager etc.), affiliation (farm, harvesting group, mill etc.) and/or their method of access (mobile, touchscreen or computer). Various devices were employed to access SHIRT including (a) a large screen mobile phone used by the supervisor of the Clarence Harvesting Co-operative, (b) touchscreens and modems fitted to either a haulout or a harvester in each crew from which the crews were able to access SHIRT and (c) the NSW Sugar web site used to distribute information to growers. Feedback from an end of season questionnaire and workshop indicated that the information being supplied to the crews was very useful for their daily management. The questionnaire completed by members of the value chain showed an increase in the level of satisfaction compared to the same questionnaire completed 4 years earlier. A couple of crews could not find anything major to complain about and so did not complete a questionnaire. SHIRT was available for use at Harwood for most of 2009 and will be introduced to the other two NSW Mills in 2010. NSW Sugar has incorporated the maintenance of SHIRT into their Service Level Agreement with Agtrix Pty Ltd, thus ensuring that it will evolve with the business and the benefits from this project will remain available to members of the value chain.
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    Electronic logbook for harvest record keeping : SRDC Grower Group Innovation Project final report
    (2007) Dore, B
    The main project aims were to develop an electronic harvester logging system that would be user friendly and reduce the requirements for manual entry of data. The information collected was then collated and reported to the grower so that his/her farm could be bench marked against the rest of the group. The project also aimed to provide an alternative to the current fleet logging systems developed for transport or mining industries and adapted to the sugar industry. Other project aims included the initial steps in the development of parameters for the adoption of differential pricing for harvesting and/or pricing that was linked to harvest performance. The essence of the project was to take a manual system of recording data via log books and converting to an electronic form. This involved the utilising personal digital appliances (PDA-small hand-held computers), developing software for the PDA and base computer to collect and store logged information. The information was then collated and presented to each grower in the group. Overall the project was a success. The use of personal PDA and/or mini computers as a substitute for paper based logbooks is feasible. However the technology does have constraints. Primarily there is still a reliance on human input of data. This task, while less onerous when utilising electronic means for recording data, still requires valuable operator time to complete and is prone to error. The system developed also relied on a physical connection between the PDA and the base computer for data transfer. Improvements in technology now permit the use of PDA/mobile phone hybrids to download this information automatically. Other aims of the project that were not realised were linking to Tully Sugar Limited (TSL) systems to obtain grower data on the tonnes cut and quality measurements for the cane supplied. Whilst technically possible the current data structures at TSL don’t provided for easy external access by third parties. There is also privacy issues involved in accessing this data. These constraints did not allow harvest performance per block to be reported to growers. Data was collected on the field conditions at the time of harvest. This information was then matched to corresponding NIR measured quality parameters for the cane supplied. There appears to be a link between the quality of the cane supply and field conditions at the time of harvest. This result must be qualified with fact that the field condition observations were subjective and the data set was relatively small. However the effect of the field conditions on cane quality should be explored to try to determine these effects as this will become critical in the development and application of performance based payment for harvesting linked to cane quality outcomes.
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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.
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    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).