The financial implications of harvester characteristics

The characteristics of cane harvesters impact in two important aspects on the financial results achieved by growers, millers and harvester owners, namely, cane quality, and loss of millable cane. The relationship between these is complex, but the results of industry investigation do allow a pattern to be established. This has been used to model the influence of harvesting philosophy on gross financial returns. The important finding is that optimum values occur, and the interpretation of these shows that the maximum benefit to growers is when the harvester operates to produce a small cane loss. The milling optimum is more complex, but is likely to occur in a similar position. The vital importance of improving the performance of cane harvesting is highlighted.