Harvesting Best Practice (HBP) recommends that harvesters maintain pour rates of 80-90 t/h, depending on make and model, and recommends extractor-fan speed guidelines that ensure minimal cane loss with low extraneous matter (EM). Exceeding the recommended pour rate...
Harvester operators have immediate feedback on parameters such as bin weight but no feedback on levels of cane loss being suffered – this is an ‘invisible’ loss. This leads to machines being operated at settings conducive to high cane loss, to the...
In the 2017 and 2018 crushing seasons, Sugar Research Australia Limited (SRA) conducted a project to assist harvesting groups to reduce sugar loss. The principles of harvesting practice to reduce loss have been well known in the industry for many years. However, at...
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...
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...
