Harvest losses in the sugarcane industry have been estimated to be over 10% in the form of cane loss, billet damage and high extraneous matter. Also, it is estimated that an additional 15% (approximately 4.5m tonnes) of industry-wide tonnage is required to maintain the viability of mills. As a result, it is critical to increase production rates and maximise cane recovery on current area under cane.

Recent investments under the Rural Research and Development for Profit Program have successfully improved knowledge and increased awareness of the profit lost to poor harvest practices. However, due to the variability in outcomes between operations under different conditions, there is increasing demand from industry for a decision support tool that assists with negotiations between growers and harvest operators so that operators are rewarded for harvest best practice (HBP).

In the absence of a decision support tool, economic uncertainties arising from the adoption of HBP (ie harvest cost changes) would likely severely reduce the adoption of recent research outcomes and associated industry benefits.

This project will develop an online harvesting predictive tool to assist growers and harvesting groups to make decisions on harvesting practices based on economic data which will increase the profitability of growers, harvesters and mills.