A MAJOR Australian machinery distributor is questioning the way farmers cost harvest.
Claas Harvest Centre, distributor of Claas Lexion headers, has launched a program to encourage farmers to dig a bit deeper when comparing their harvest cost.
Claas Harvest Centre, product manager, Jono Ham said the program aims to refocus from outright purchase price or operating cost an hour, to considering the actual cost for each tonne of grain harvested.
“Many grain producers look at purchase price or operating hours when in actual fact, neither of these measurements provide any indication of harvesting costs,” he said.
”The only measurement that counts is the cost per tonne of grain harvested.
“This is a function of the harvesting efficiency of the harvester and the front, the amount of crop that can be covered each hour and the number of hours that you can work each day.”
“At the end of the day, harvesting is about making sure you get your return on investment and minimise risk by getting your crop in the shed or silo as quickly as possible.”
Mr Ham said the Claas Harvest Centre had developed a calculator that estimated the cost of ownership of more than 30 different harvesters based on harvesting data collected throughout Australia.
“We’ve found that even small differences in throughput, grain loss and fuel efficiency means the cost-of-ownership can vary by up to 20 per cent between different makes and models,” he said.
“These differences can easily add up to more than $100,000 over three, four or five years.
“Independent testing conducted in 2017 on a broadacre farm in Western Australia found a CLAAS LEXION reduced grain losses by 3.4pc compared to a single rotor combine harvester operating side-by-side in the same paddock.
“In a crop that’s yielding two tonnes per hectare, at $350 a tonne, that’s $23.80 a hectare of extra profit that otherwise would have been left in the paddock.
“When you multiply that by 1000 or 2000 hectares over three years, buying a twin rotor combine harvester makes a solid financial case.”
Mr Ham said the Claas Harvest Centre estimates that the cost of purchasing a new Claas Lexion 750 equipped with a 12.3 metre Convio draper front can be as little as $13 a tonne.
Alternatively, the cost of a wide-bodied Lexion 770 equipped with Terra Trac and a 12.3 metre Convio draper front starts from $14 a tonne.
Mr Ham said the two estimates assume a total throughput of 30,000 tonnes over five or three years respectively, exclusive of operating and maintenance costs.
“Even then, we can confidently say that Lexion comes out way in front in terms of fuel efficiency when measured in litres per tonne of grain harvested, while our maintenance costs are comparable with other makes on a percentage basis,” he said.
“Even our largest machines are consistently recording an average fuel consumption of between 2 to 2.5 litres a tonne grain harvested.”
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