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.Harvesting costs

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Cost assessment of the adoption of harvesting best practice (HBP) : ASSCT peer-reviewed paper
    (ASSCT, 2019) Nothard, B; Thompson, M; Patane, P; Landers, G; Norris, CA; Poggio, M
    Using ground speeds and extractor fan speeds recommended by Harvesting Best Practice (HBP) will minimise cane loss and stool damage. While these benefits provide an incentive for growers to request contractors use HBP settings, little research based on trial data has examined the full impact on harvesting costs. Given that reduced ground speeds increase harvesting time, it is expected harvesting contractors would incur higher labour, fuel and machinery costs per tonne. To incentivise the move to HBP, additional compensation would need to be paid to harvesting contractors by growers. It is anticipated that providing growers and contractors with information about the harvesting cost implications from implementing HBP would enhance adoption. The difference in harvesting costs between conventional (standard) harvesting practice and HBP (recommended) are evaluated at nine harvesting-trial sites undertaken across Queensland in 2017 by Sugar Research Australia. The analysis draws upon the production and operational information collected during the trials along with detailed information collected from each of the nine harvesting operations. A customised economic spreadsheet was developed to model the difference in harvesting costs between standard practice and recommended settings. Harvesting costs per tonne were generally found to increase when using recommended settings, with the exception of trials that attained large reductions in cane losses due to the change in practice. The results showed that changing to recommended settings increased harvesting costs by between $11 and $101/ha. Changes per tonne showed far more variability at –67 c/t (saving) to 96 c/t (increase), where some cases showed cost increases offset by yield improvements. Moreover, harvesting costs varied among harvesting contractors due to differences in machinery-management strategies and labour-payment terms. Sensitivity analyses were also undertaken to investigate the response of harvesting costs to different scenarios.
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    Economic evaluation of sugarcane harvesting best practice (HBP) : ASSCT peer-reviewed paper
    (ASSCT, 2019) Thompson, M; Nothard, B; Patane, P; Landers, G; Norris, CA
    Mechanical sugarcane harvesting is commonly undertaken at ground speeds that exceed the cleaning capacity of modern harvesters, which is likely to increase extraneous matter (EM) levels in the cane supply. To attempt to reduce the higher EM levels, operators typically increase extractor fan speeds above recommendations, resulting in unintended cane loss. Past research indicates that using harvesting best practice (HBP) settings can minimise cane loss and stool damage. These benefits would increase grower revenue and be an incentive for growers to request harvesting contractors operate using HBP settings. Reduced ground speeds would, however, increase harvesting time and generate higher costs per hectare. The key issue remains as to whether the increased grower revenues outweigh the additional harvesting costs. Nine replicated and randomised trials undertaken by Sugar Research Australia in 2017 compared harvesting performance when using both conventional and HBP settings through identifying production and grower revenue differences. Detailed information was collected from each harvesting operation to identify harvesting costs under both conventional practice and HBP. This allowed the net benefit for the grower and harvesting operation from using HBP settings to be determined. On average over the nine trials, recommended harvesting settings generated more grower revenue than the added harvesting costs from reducing ground speeds and generated a net economic benefit of $163/ha (or $1.97/t). The trials show that, while growers would need to pay additional compensation for cane harvested using HBP settings, the compensation would be less than the additional revenue they received, increasing overall grower profitability.
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    Improving harvest efficiency in the Mossman Central Mill area : SRDC Final report
    (2006) Rudd, A
    The Mossman sugar industry in 2004 was characterised by small farms and small blocks, an excessive kilometer/tonne transport ratio, an aging transport infrastructure with a bin fleet of limited capacity, a decreasing area of supply and a harvest window limited by topography. A project to improve the overall efficiency of the harvest and transport sector of the Mossman sugar industry commenced in 2005. Changes to improve the efficiency were developed through a series of workshops with representatives from the Mossman Central Mill, Mossman CANEGROWERS, the Queensland branch of the Mechanical Cane Harvesters Association and Mossman Agricultural Services. This group looked at a range of payment and harvest management issues. The project was managed through two broad work programs; industry consultation looking at payment options and monitoring of a group of harvesters.
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    Benchmarking harvest group practices in the Burdekin : SRDC Final report CSR033
    (2006) Ellis, D; Haigh, I
    This project was initiated due to a lack of information available to harvesting groups as to whether their operation was economically comparable to other harvesting groups in the Burdekin and if their current practices were economically sustainable. To do this, the project was designed to create a benchmarking system to enable harvest groups to compare harvester performance by: Establishing a low cost, reliable harvester reporting system which captures field conditions Generate reports showing harvester performance Enable harvest groups to compare different operating practices due to farming systems and model the cost associated to those practices Determine the impacts of different group configurations on profitability.
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    Quantification of the potential to reduce harvesting losses by utilisation of field edge trash separation technology
    (2013)
    NorrisECT conducted a series of SRDC supported trials into the potential to improve industry profitability through the use of post-harvest cleaning at sites in the New South Wales Sugar Milling Cooperative and Isis Mill cane catchments during the 2012 crushing season. The aim of the trials was to determine the potential to improve profitability by circumventing the existing compromise between high fibre levels in milled cane, and high cane loss during harvesting under commercial harvesting conditions. This was achieved through utilising ‘low loss’ harvesting to reduce the cane lost through the harvester cleaning system then a mobile cane cleaning plant to clean the cane before transport to the mill. The impact on tonnes of cane and CCS recovered per hectare, and the transport bulk density were measured. The trials investigated the impact on recovered cane yields and CCS across three treatments, including ‘commercial’ harvesting practices (moderate to high extractor fan speed), ‘low loss’ harvesting practices (low extractor fan speeds, reduced ground speed), and ‘low loss’ harvesting with post-harvest cleaning (using a NorrisECT mobile cane cleaning plant). Total biomass yield (tonnes per hectare), cane yield (tonnes per hectare), load density (kg per m3) were measured in the field, and the respective mills provided corresponding information on Pol, Brix, Ash, Fibre and CCS measurement (NIR). Trial results showed significant increase in biomass and delivered CCS yields per hectare resulting from ‘low loss’ harvesting practices, and a further increase in delivered CCS per hectare (through significant reduction in EM and fibre levels) attributable to post-harvest cleaning. Post-harvest cleaning treatments also demonstrated significantly higher transport load densities. The actual impact on harvesting costs were estimated based on the change in harvester productivity (hectares per hour) and haul out requirement (m3 of biomass per hectare) and benchmarked against a large harvesting dataset. Actual sugar recovery was estimated based upon both CCS determinations and earlier Australian and American work on the effect of extraneous matter and fibre on sugar recovery. The trials have demonstrated that there is potential to significantly increase the industry profitability with post-harvest cane cleaning based on the significant increase in potential sugar production per hectare of land, significant improvement in transport load density and significant reduction in fibre levels in cane milled. It is recommended that further work be undertaken to better quantify the actual impact NET001 Interim Report iii on harvesting and transport costs under commercial conditions, and to better quantify the impact on mill performance and costs, and sugar recovery through reduced fibre and extraneous matter levels.