Apr 02, 2010
Soy Harvest Losses In Brazil Could Be 2 bu/ac, Total Losses 10%
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Researchers for Embrapa in Brazil estimate that harvest losses during the soybean harvest in Brazil could be as high as 2 sacks per hectare or approaching as much as 2 bushels per acre. That means as much as 4-5% of Brazil's total soybean production is lost in the field during the harvest process. If these losses were extrapolated across the entire country, it would mean that 46 million sacks of soybeans, worth R$ 1.4 billion, are lost during harvesting. Researchers attribute the losses to poorly adjusted cutting bars and headers, incorrect harvest speed, poorly trained combine operators, and inadequate management of the soybean crop.
The research, which was jointly conducted by Embrapa and the state extension service in the state of Parana, revealed that 80% of the harvest losses were the result of poorly adjusted cutter bars and grain platforms and the wrong harvest speed. Ideally, the cutter bar should be as close to the soil surface as possible to make sure the lowest pods are brought into the combine, which is sometimes difficult to do on the hilly terrain typical of Parana. The forward speed of the combine should also be synchronized with the speed of the thrashing unit, which researchers found was not the case in many instances.
Other sources of losses involve uneven plant maturity, in other words, soybean plants that have mature pods and green pods at the same time. This can especially be a problem for early maturing soybeans that need to be harvested during the peak of the rainy season. This problem was evident in Mato Grosso during January and February when many farmers were forced to harvest their soybeans due to a break in the rainy weather even though not all the pods on the soybeans had matured.
When combining all losses in Brazil such as harvest losses, losses during transportation, storage, shipping, exporting, etc., the total may be as high as 10% of Brazil's total grain production. Everyone in Brazil realizes that the best way to reduce these losses is to update and expand its entire agricultural infrastructure, but that is an expensive and slow process.