Towards improved harvest management using a systems approach

Opportunities exist to improve profitability through modification of existing harvest management practices. The two critical success factors for realising these gains are acceptance of change and the development of reliable tools for options analysis that capture the complexity of the sugar industry system. Accordingly, a paradigm shift towards whole of industry systems research and development is advocated to improve harvest management. The essential feature of this R&D is concurrent technical research aimed at integration and optimisation of the on-farm growing and harvesting sectors and the off-farm transport, milling and marketing sectors, and change management research aimed at developing novel implementation pathways that take account of socioeconomic aspects of the system. The application of this approach to cane supply and harvest scheduling is outlined. Analyses to date have shown gains in profitability of up to $165/ha in a Mackay case study and implementation guidelines have been developed. Further opportunities beyond current cane supply optimisation to improve harvest management are then explored.