Conducting a Harvest Loss

Use the following information to do your harvest loss appraisal.

• Pick a random spot in the field (preferably behind the last round of the harvester)
• Mark out: (22" rows only)

• • 4 Row Lifter – 4 rows wide X 15 foot length = 110 sq. feet
  • 6 Row Lifter – 6 rows wide X 10 foot length = 110 sq. feet
  • 8 Row Lifter – 8 rows wide X 7 ½ foot length = 110 sq. feet
  • 12 Row Lifter – 12 rows wide X 5 foot length = 110 sq. feet
• Glean the area, picking up any small pieces that have been broken off of the beet due to the harvester or defoliator, down to the diameter of a dime. Dig down the rows looking for broken tails remaining in the ground; this is very important for adjusting depth, speed, pinch points, strut spacing, and row finder. (Use Sugarbeet Slide Rule.)

Note

• Beets that have been rolled out by the defoliator (no harvester adjustment)
• Soil being returned to the field (large piles – check speed and depth)
• Tare percentage (high percentage – check speed, depth, grabrolls, and scrub)
• Weigh up the pieces (pocket fish scales work as well as anything else)
• Subtract the weight of the bucket from the weight of the bucket and beets
• Then take the weight of the beets and divide it by 5 = tons/acre loss

Example

• Get the weight of the bucket to be used before each harvest loss = 2 lbs.
• Once you get your sample area gleaned, the sample bucket weight = 5 lbs.
  
  

	Sample 1	Sample 2
Bucket & Sample	________ lbs.	________ lbs.
Bucket	________ lbs.	________ lbs.
Sample	________ lbs.	________ lbs.
Sample lbs. / 5	________ tpa loss	________ tpa loss

Acceptable Losses:

• 1 ton and over = High
• ½ ton – 1 ton = Acceptable
• 0 ton – ½ ton = Low
  (Over 1 ton of losses should be addressed immediately)

Economic Impact

• ½ ton lost in field – $20/acre
• Beet damage – $4.50/acre (if finding excessive chips)
• ½ percent tare – $16.90/acre
• Harvester downtime – $228/hour
• Piler downtime – $1,786/hour