SUGARCANE YIELD MONITORING IN THE HERBERT DISTRICT

SUGARCANE yield mapping began in the Herbert District in the 1998 crushing season. A prototype cane yield monitor was developed and field tested, and produced yield maps of the harvested areas. Interest in cane yield monitoring systems was regenerated in the region when the Cuban Techagro company field tested a yield monitor, during the 2005 harvest. In 2006, staff of the Herbert Cane Productivity Services Limited (HCPSL) and others travelled to Brazil and Cuba to review yield monitoring systems and were successful in obtaining a Federal Government Regional Communities Project grant to assess and install yield monitoring equipment to the Herbert harvesting fleet for the 2007 and 2008 harvests. Twenty Techagro yield monitors were in operation in the region in 2008. Techagro and Techagro Pacific have undertaken research to assess the efficacy of its yield monitoring system and to develop calibration methods, and have delivered a user-friendly computer interface to process and generate yield maps. Development of this system is ongoing and is being modified to meet client requirements. Geo-spatial data such as yield maps, block boundaries and soils maps have allowed the industry to identify and gain a better understanding of why yield variation occurs within a cane block. Yield variations may differ between blocks and seasons, and can usually be attributed to single factors, such as cane grub invasion, or to multiple factors, such as a combination of poor soil profile drainage and wet weather. Understanding the reasons for yield variation is still a major challenge for the industry to consider when implementing precision agricultural techniques.