Sugarcane harvesting at Ayr. North Queensland,.
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- Опубліковано 15 гру 2014
- North Queensland produces over 95% of Australia's sugar, which is mostly exported as Raw sugar. Here, in Ayr, cane is being harvested from a field that has bee "burnt", this was done in the days of hand cutting, to drive snakes and rats from the field, and to remove most of the green "trash" from the stalks. Today , not many farms burn their cane, but a few still do, and in the early tropical evening, there is nothing more spectacular than a "cane fire" !
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Done this for 16 years. Loved it
Very interesting Gregg! Didn't realize sugar cane was such a big part of the economy in Queensland. I've often watched videos of cane harvesting in Mexico, these machines are fascinating. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Ben! Yes , it is a huge industry and hopefully will be even bigger in the Bio-fuel market in the near future!. Mechanical harvesters were invented right in this area, with many different guys tinkering in their sheds with different ideas, but it was the "Toft" bros that really made the machine as we see it today...depending on what local you ask of course...LOL
Cheers Gregg:-)
Great video! I would love to see a sugar cane farm!!! Thank you Kate
Hi Kate! Wow..a celebrity watching my videos! The best thing about the Cane farms down here, are the narrow gauge trains that take the cane to the MIlls. I hope to get back up there with my new camera in the near future.
Thanks so much for watching! BYE .....(waving with one hand)
Gregg.
I grew up on a farm where we grew soy beans and this all together different. Thanks for sharing!
Interesting Dave! They say peanuts are good to plant between crops also??
hey Gregg... very interesting video.. nice to see how cane is harvested... thanks for sharing.. vinny
Thanks Vinny, glad you liked it! The best part are the cane trains of course!! Congrats on getting the roller doors done too!!
Gregg.
oi greg................................................................... great video..........................i cant believe it was cut like that............................
Adoro essas máquinas.....trabalho com essas máquinas a 20 anos em uma usina aqui no Brasil..top
Thank you!
Good vid Gregg brings back memories, early 80'sI was driving cane cutter at Nambour until they blow the boiler up at the Mill !! then we were cutting cane into semi's and trucking it to any Mill that would take it !!!
Cheers Glynn
Thanks Glynn! I bet your harvester wasn't air-conned in the 80's..LOL I remember the Nambour mill and the trains going through the street!
Cheers Gregg
The old cutter didn't , but the new one did and the boys on the bin tractor's were dirty as they had no cab's LOL
QRoutback I bet they were!! A bit different these days, almost a joy to come to work!!
Nice, when I lived up in North Dakota, we had sugar beets, it was more simple to harvest, and the processing plants were big (south of Grand Forks). The BNSF had lots of business. The branch lines has very small trains (20 to 30 cars at times) looked like a model train. It was very flat up there, I don't miss the cold weather, but liked to watch the small trains. Nice video Gregg, it's amazing how small the tractors are compared to American equipment.
Thank you sir! I just got a Pentrex DVD on SP sugar beet trains, should be a good video.The sugar beet trains were very popular by how much I hear people talking about them. I have heard that North Dakota is a bit chilly..LOL The tractors are used to pull the bins and are suited to that. Down South in the whet belt, there is much bigger equipment, similar to what you are used to in the US. \
Cheers Gregg:-)
Nice change of pace, Greg. Thanks!
Thanks Tom! I like to mix it up a bit..can't have too much of me singing in the shower...LOL
Cheers Gregg.
Living in Canada, I didn't even know you grew sugar cane in Australia, Rice yes but cane I had no idea. The harvesters look so different from our combines which take a 40 foot swath at a time. Great video! Thanks for the education.
Thanks Dennis!. The cane is very hard and and it took many years to develop a harvester that could cope with it! Did you know sugar cane is actually a grass!!
Cheers Gregg
FishplateFilms A grass???? Really! Australia has always fascinated me with it's vast diversity and all. It is actually a place I would love to spend a bunch of time exploring and enjoying but it's not likely to happen on a pension.
Cheers Dennis
***** Yes , it's a member of the grass family! Well I will be checking out your wonderful country next May, I can't wait! Australia is nearly the same size as the US, but with ten times less people, so there is a lot of empty space..LOL
Gregg:-)
Like Australia, Canada is massive in size but we have only 35 million people compared to the US at 350 million. Most of our population lives within 200 miles of the US/Canada border.
I hope you will enjoy your time in Canada when you come Greg.
Dennis
***** I'm sure I will!!
Nice one, Greg! Looks like a dry and very dusty job!
Best,
John
Thanks John! Yes mate , hot and dusty , but cool in the harvester!!
Cheers Gregg
Interesting to see, Gregg. Where I live here in north central Illinois, USA, the big cash crops are corn and soybeans. Best and Merry Christmas to you and yours! - Paul
Thank you Paul! Unfortunately, big companies and greed have seen corn syrup take over in sweetening in many foods instead of sugar cane,, which is far better to digest ! this is a big (one of a few) part of the obesity problem as is the scare on Diary products. We need to get back to natural foods, so have a big turkey with lots of veggies with butter !! All the best to you and yours.
Cheers Gregg
6:06 good idea
visto oggi il vostro filmato, io sono nato a AYR mio padre era un taglia canna negli anni 50. miei parenti hanno delle farm sono i Dal Santo. Grazie bei ricordi io sono Johnny
My great-grandparents owned sugar cane farms in Ayr. I remember visiting my grandparents when I was young and the ash from the burning cane would be flying everywhere.
They call it "Black snow" , and I was lucky enough to see a fire while I was up there and the "black snow" was falling!. It's a nice part of the world up there.
Thanks for watching.
Gregg
Interesting bit of kit those harvesters Greg. Not really an SD40-2 more like a GE40 tonner! I expect the maintainers have their work cut out for them every harvest. I just mulched my grape vines with sugar cane mulch as the kangaroos don't seem to like to eat it. Must be a bit tough for them. I am looking forward to the xmas message from Lord Stan this year?? All the best for the festive season and thanks for the great videos this year. Cheers.
Yes Richard, they are tough machines , this one is a smaller version and has a bit of age on it, but still does the job!. The cutter discs that cut the cane at ground level cop a hiding as they are hitting the ground . The mulch is tough and the sides have small razor teeth on the leaves and will give you a nice "paper"cut if you're not careful! Lord Stan will be here soon and thank you for the festive cheers !
Gregg:-)
Cool vid. We still burn cane here. Town to my west, Belle Glade Florida, burns cane fields every year, soot covers are cars, what a mess. Cheers, Mike
Thanks Mike! The sugar content is slightly higher in "green cut" cane , and the trash is left in the paddock as a mulch, but it is still a personal thing with some farmers, I was told that in a few low , wet fields, it is better to burn to dry out the roots to prevent rot. As you say , the soot from the fires is like "black snow!"
Cheers Gregg
FishplateFilms Burning cane is good if planning to plow out and replant the paddock. The ash conditions the soil and improves soil quality
Thank you , was a while ago and must get back up there! They call it black snow up north!
Cheers Gregg.
I can see that would be a benefit!
Gregg :-)
Hi Gregg! Another great video mate! Interesting and informative! It was very good of the harvester and truck operators to let you 'in on the action' in the cabs. I've only seen two cane fires, but like you said they are spectacular! I can only imagine what it would be like to cut cane by hand, HARD YAKKA! Thanks for sharing! Keep it touch and don't work too hard mate!
Cheers!
Stew.
Thank you Sir! I was watching the bins being unloaded and he asked if I wanted to go for a run to get loaded, and film the harvesting. They were good blokes and I spoke to the owner for about an hour, nice folk ! I couldn't cut one stalk by hand, let alone do it all day ..LOL Will be in touch.
Cheers Gregg.
Very interesting. Gregg, as are all of the videos you post on UA-cam. I am, however, suffering severe withdrawal pains as a result of not seeing any BNSF Birdwood Sub videos in a while. Anything coming up soon?
Interesting stuff Greg. Thanks.......David (UK)
PS - That your white Disco parked up at the side of the field?...
Thanks David! Yesmate , that's my Series 2 Td5, being at home in the fields..LOL
Cheers Gregg
Machinery makes fast work. It would suck doing it the old ways.
Scott
It sure does Scott! Hand cutting cane was a terrible job, hot humid and hard work, plus many diseases from the pests in the cane.
Gregg.
FishplateFilms ;) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :)
The best ethanol fuels are made from sugar cane.
And we have plenty of sugarcane in Australia ;-)
Watched this being done right by my house today. Same machine. They burn all fields here that are going to allowed to regrow next season. Four year rotation.
How do you go with all the soot Arthur! No hanging the sheets out when they are burning!!
Sweet!!!
ScottyRockTrains Cheers Scotty!
They let it dry and only burn when wind blowing away from residents. I have only incurred shoot and ash once in seven years. I have fields within 1/4 mile.
That's very good Arthur, well organised!
What are the carting trucks?..Old Nissan diesels by any chance? the cabs look a bit like old Fiats but I know you wouldnt have them piles of crap down under.
+Mark Lynskey The trucks are "International" as in Harvester. These are "ACCO's" or T lines. They have cummins engines and RoadRanger 13 speed
boxes, very popular down here until only a few years ago, Rough but very tough and reliable. Thanks for watching Mark.
Cheers Gregg.
Thanks Fishplate
FishplateFilms i thought they were old "shoe box" accos
Other than that truck with driver on wrong side i would have though i was watching harvest in Louisiana USA.
LOL !! Nice to see you still have cane over there and not all corn sugar!
Cheers Art!
I remember when the cane fields where empty me and my cousin would run through them when we where younger
I don’t think this bloke knows what’s he on about. It’s mostly cut in the same fashion burnt or green.