Cane Growing Costs

This page is used to calculate cane growing costs per hectare, including the costs of machinery operations, fertiliser, pesticides and irrigation. Once you have entered information for one growing cost page, click the next tab to navigate to the next crop entry.

Please see headings below for step-by-step details on how to enter information for Cultivation, Land Preparation, Planting, Fertiliser/Ameliorants, Weed/Insect/Disease Control and Irrigation. Step-by-step details for entering information for Machinery Operations and costs are below.

Cultivation (bare fallow crop entries only)

Add all machinery operations undertaken for cultivation by selecting the ‘Own Tractor’ option, choosing the machinery and number of operations. Operations undertaken by a contractor are entered by selecting the ‘Contractor’ option, naming it appropriately, choosing number of operations and the contractor rate.

Land Preparation (plant, plough out replant and ratoon entries only)

Add all types of machinery operations undertaken to prepare land for planting along with the number of operations (e.g. 1 operation with a zonal ripper/rotary hoe).

Planting

Add planting operation by entering the:

1. Name the planting operation. Provide details here on whether planting yourself or by using a contractor.;
2. Tonnes of cane setts planted per hectare for ‘Planting Material Amount (units/ha)’;
3. Cost of cane setts per tonne in place of ‘Planting Material Cost ($/unit)’. This is automatically calculated as the opportunity cost of cane setts based on average CCS, but this cost can be altered by users;
4. Users have the option of either (or both), (1) entering a machinery operation (e.g. planter) and labour use requirement if they do their own planting, or (2) entering how much they pay for a contract planter per hectare.
5. If you choose to omit information in any entry area, please just put 0 (if a number is required), or a full stop or hyphen if text is required.

Sugar Research Australia (SRA) have a QCaneSelect tool which provides variety information and productivity reports.

Fertiliser/Ameliorants

Add fertiliser/ameliorant costs by clicking the ‘Add fertiliser’ or ‘Add Ameliorants’ buttons and entering the:

1. Type of fertiliser or Ameliorant (e.g. Urea or Lime);
2. Number of applications (e.g. 1);
3. Fertiliser application rate (e.g. 250 units/ha);
4. Fertiliser application rate units (e.g. kg/ha);
5. Fertiliser price (e.g. $750/unit);
6. Fertiliser price units (e.g. $/tonne).

Add fertiliser application costs by clicking the ‘Add Machinery Operation’ and entering the details for the implement used to apply fertiliser (e.g. stool splitter). If fertiliser is applied by the planter then do not enter an implement.

Fertfinder can help you select the right fertiliser blend that matches the nutritional requirements of the paddock. CogCalibrator makes calibrating a cog driven fertiliser applicator easier by providing a recommendation on the cogs to use to achieve your target application rate. NutriCalc can help you develop nutrient management plans for use on-farm.

You can access these three SRA tools here.

Weed/Insect/Disease Control

Add chemical costs by clicking the ‘Add Weed Control’, ‘Add Insect Control’ or ‘Add Disease Control’ buttons and entering the:

1. Type of Chemical (e.g. 2,4-D, Confidor or Bumper);
2. Number of applications (e.g. 1);
3. Chemical application rate (e.g. 1 units/ha);
4. Chemical application rate units (e.g. L/ha);
5. Chemical price (e.g. $8.50/unit);
6. Chemical application cost rate units (e.g. $/L).

Add chemical application costs by clicking the ‘Add Machinery Operation’ and entering the details for the implement used to apply the chemical (e.g. Boom sprayer or Irvin legs sprayer) and the number of operations. If the chemical is applied by an implement already added (e.g. stool splitter or planter) then do not enter an implement (as it would be double counting the costs).

SRA have a Weed ID Tool that can help growers identify weeds they may find on their cane farm. Also Burdekin Productivity Services (BPS) have a Spray Calibration Calculator which can help with sprayer nozzle calculations. BPS also have a range of other grower tools.

Irrigation

Add irrigation costs by clicking the ‘Add Irrigation Costs’ button and entering the:

1. Application rate of irrigation water per hectare (e.g. 10 megalitres/ha);
2. Percent of applied water that is pumped from recycle pits (20% of the application rate); Water purchase costs will not be included for the quantity of recycled water;
3. Percentage of water that is pumped using electric and diesel-powered water pumps (e.g. 80% electric and 20% diesel) by dragging the circle to the left (for Diesel up to 100%) or to the right (for Electricity up to 100%);
4. Electric pump/s power usage (kilowatts) and water flow rate (litres/second). If multiple pumps are used then users should enter the average power usage and flow rate of all the pumps (or weighted average where applicable);
5. Diesel pump/s fuel usage (litres/hour) and water flow rate (litres/second);
6. Percentage of water pumped during the day and night (electric pumps only);
7. Electricity tariff charged during the day and night ($/kWh). If these are the same then please enter the same number twice;
8. Information regarding irrigation labour requirements. Firstly, enter the percentage of water applied using furrow irrigation, travelling gun or some other type of irrigation method. Secondly, enter the time spent on irrigation activities for each type of irrigation (e.g. travelling to the paddock and turning pumps on and off or checking on water progression, preparation time such as changing cups etc.,). Lastly, enter any variable labour cost rate if applicable (please be careful not to double count if these labour costs are also being included on the fixed costs page).
9. Repairs and maintenance (R&M) costs for the irrigation system (e.g. $5/megalitre). This can be calculated by summing R&M costs for the whole farm and dividing by the total megalitres of water applied (e.g. $5000/year divided by 1000 megalitres equals $5/ML). Irrigation R&M costs include maintaining, repairing and replacing irrigation equipment and infrastructure including servicing diesel motors, repairing electric motor burnouts and replacing pump packing (seals), fluming and drip tape.