Harvest is where months of agronomic decisions, labour and investment are converted into saleable production. Yet a strong crop does not automatically produce a strong commercial result. What doesn’t support an efficient harvest?
Poor machinery settings, delayed harvesting, inadequate storage, unmanaged lodging and weak coordination between field teams, transporters and storage facilities can quickly reduce both yield and quality.
Globally, approximately 13.3% of agricultural production is lost between the farm gate and the retail sector. Cereals and oilseeds are especially important because they account for an estimated 53% of global post-harvest losses on a calorific basis.
For growers and producers, efficient harvest preparation is therefore not simply about getting equipment ready. It is about coordinating crop condition, machinery, labour, storage, safety and logistics as one connected system.
This guide outlines practical steps growers can take to reduce avoidable losses and protect more of the value already standing in the field.
Why efficient harvest preparation matters
Harvest losses may appear small when expressed as a percentage, but they can represent significant volumes across a large operation.
Industry benchmarks generally aim to keep mechanical harvest losses below 1% of yield for cereal crops and around 2% to 3% for canola. However, field measurements show that actual losses often exceed those targets.
In Western Australia, research across multiple harvest sites estimated that growers left approximately A$300 million in paddocks during the 2021 season and around A$320 million during the 2022–23 season through front-end and machine losses.
The same research found particularly high average losses in several pulse and oilseed crops:
| Crop | Average measured harvest loss |
|---|---|
| Lupins | 12.3% |
| Field peas | 9.0% |
| Canola | 3.3% |
| Canola at some high-loss sites | Up to 10% |
These results demonstrate that harvest efficiency cannot be managed effectively from the cab alone. Growers need physical measurements, documented thresholds and a process for adjusting equipment as conditions change.
1. Build a field-by-field harvest plan
The problem with a single whole-farm harvest schedule is that crops rarely mature uniformly. Variety, planting date, soil type, rainfall, disease pressure and topography can all influence harvest timing.
Before harvest begins, assess each field for:
- Crop maturity and moisture
- Lodging or stalk-strength risk
- Weed pressure and seed retention
- Disease or pest damage
- Expected yield and machinery throughput
- Accessibility after rainfall
- Storage, drying or cooling requirements
- Contract, delivery and quality specifications
Use these observations to create a field priority list rather than relying only on planting order.
For example, a lower-yielding corn field with severe stalk weakness may need to be harvested before a higher-yielding field that remains structurally sound. Likewise, a pulse crop at risk of shattering may require priority over a cereal crop that can remain standing safely for several more days.
The impact is greater operational control. Harvest teams can focus first on fields where delays are most likely to cause irreversible loss.
2. Check crop standability before machinery arrives
Late-season crop stress can weaken stems and stalks even when a crop still appears healthy from a distance.
In corn, dry conditions and other stresses can force the plant to move carbohydrates from the lower stalk into grain development. This weakens the stalk and increases its susceptibility to diseases such as Fusarium, Gibberella, anthracnose and charcoal rot.
Two simple field checks can help growers identify high-risk areas:
Pinch test: Squeeze the lower internodes between your thumb and forefinger. A stalk that compresses easily may have deteriorated internal tissue.
Push test: Push representative plants away from the row and assess whether they return upright or break.
These tests should be conducted across several areas, including low-lying zones, stressed patches and field edges.
Fields with a high proportion of weak plants should be moved forward in the harvest schedule. Early detection can reduce losses from lodged plants, dropped ears and difficult header feeding.
3. Measure harvest losses instead of estimating them
A recurring conclusion in multi-regional harvest research is that operators cannot accurately determine total grain loss by looking from the combine cab.
Factory-installed loss monitors are useful for showing changes in performance, but they provide relative readings unless they have been calibrated against physical measurements.
Drop pans, trays and ground-count methods establish the actual loss behind the header and combine.
Research in Australia found that growers using drop trays averaged 1.3% machine loss, compared with 2.9% among growers who did not use them. In New Zealand, operators using no pan averaged 2.84% total loss, while those using their own pan averaged just 1.24%.
That means active measurement was associated with losses that were less than half those recorded by operators harvesting without a pan.
A practical measurement process should include:
- Measure losses before making machine adjustments.
- Separate pre-harvest, header and machine losses where possible.
- Adjust one setting at a time.
- Repeat the test after each meaningful adjustment.
- Test again when crop variety, moisture, humidity or field conditions change.
In soybeans, the target under normal conditions is commonly to keep total losses below 1 bushel per acre, approximately equivalent to four medium-sized seeds per square foot. Research also indicates that around 80% of soybean harvest loss can occur at the gathering unit or header, making cutter-bar condition and reel settings particularly important.
4. Calibrate machinery for crop flow, not just field speed
Harvest performance is often discussed in hectares or acres per hour. However, the combine processes crop volume, not land area.
In high-yielding fields, maintaining the same ground speed used in a lower-yielding crop can overload the rotor and cleaning system. Uneven crop flow can carry threshed grain over the sieves and return it to the field.
Research cited in the uploaded report suggests that ground speed may need to be reduced by as much as 50% in high-yielding crops to maintain acceptable seed loss.
Before harvest, inspect and prepare:
- Cutter bars, knives and guards
- Reel alignment and speed
- Header height controls
- Draper belts, augers and feed chains
- Concaves and rotor components
- Sieves and cleaning fans
- Grain-loss sensors
- Tyres, tracks, brakes and bearings
- Fire extinguishers and communications equipment
During harvest, match reel speed, ground speed, rotor speed, concave clearance and fan settings to the crop’s moisture and condition.
The goal is consistent material flow. A combine operating slightly slower with stable throughput may retain more grain and achieve better daily profitability than one covering more hectares while leaving yield behind.
5. Prepare drying, cooling and storage before the first load
Harvest efficiency does not end when the crop leaves the field.
Storage facilities should be ready before harvesting begins. Delays caused by blocked intake systems, dirty bins, failed fans or unavailable drying capacity can stop machinery during the most valuable harvest window.
In developing regions, unsuitable infrastructure and traditional storage methods can produce farm-level losses of 40% to 50%. Under some traditional storage systems in Ethiopia, grain losses have been reported between 41% and 80%, while sorghum losses from pest infestation have reached 63.85% within three to six months.
Although conditions vary greatly by region, the underlying lesson is universal: moisture, insects, temperature and contamination must be controlled immediately after harvest.
Before storing new crop:
- Remove old grain, dust and residues.
- Repair water leaks and structural damage.
- Check aeration fans, ducts and temperature sensors.
- Confirm dryer capacity and fuel availability.
- Clean handling equipment and intake areas.
- Develop a plan for segregating wet, damaged or infected grain.
- Verify safe storage moisture targets for each crop and climate.
For horticultural operations, the equivalent priorities include clean picking containers, packhouse capacity, rapid cooling, quality inspection and uninterrupted cold-chain movement.
6. Coordinate labour, transport and receiving capacity
A combine, picker or harvester cannot operate efficiently without the people and infrastructure around it.
Operators, truck drivers, grain-cart teams, mechanics, seasonal workers, quality staff and storage personnel all need to be available at the right time. A delay in one part of the chain can force the entire harvest operation to slow down.
A practical harvest logistics plan should identify:
- Daily field and crop priorities
- Expected tonnes or bins harvested per hour
- Available transport capacity
- Travel and unloading time
- Storage or packhouse intake limits
- Dryer or cooling capacity
- Delivery opening hours
- Backup operators and machinery
- Escalation procedures for quality or safety issues
Digital harvest planning can strengthen this coordination by providing one shared view of field status, crop condition, loads, movements and storage availability.
Instead of relying on separate spreadsheets, radio calls and handwritten notes, growers can create a traceable flow of information from field to storage or delivery. That visibility becomes particularly valuable when weather changes, machinery fails or quality specifications require loads to be redirected.
7. Treat harvest safety and machinery hygiene as production controls
A clean machine is not only easier to maintain. It is also safer.
Australian data cited in the research indicates that approximately 7% of operating combine harvesters experience an ignition event each year, with around 10% of those events causing significant machinery or crop damage. An estimated 50% of harvester fires are associated with failed bearings or inadequate machinery hygiene.
Dust accumulation is particularly dangerous around exhaust manifolds, turbochargers, brakes and failing bearings. Pulse crops and frost-damaged crops can produce especially fine, combustible dust.
Recommended controls include:
- Clean machinery systematically with compressed air or high-powered blowers.
- Remove dust from the exhaust and engine area.
- Check bearings and brakes several times each day.
- Use an infrared thermometer or thermal camera to identify rising temperatures.
- Carry suitable, serviced fire extinguishers.
- Avoid parking hot machinery over dry crop residue.
- Establish emergency communications and evacuation procedures.
Machinery hygiene also helps reduce the movement of weed seeds, pests and crop diseases between fields.
8. Use harvest to improve long-term weed management
Harvest is an opportunity to reduce future weed pressure, not just collect the current crop.
Many damaging annual weeds retain a large proportion of their seed at harvest height. Rigid ryegrass, wild radish and wild oats may retain more than 75% of their seeds where they can be collected by the header.
Harvest weed seed control systems capture or destroy these seeds before they are redistributed with the chaff.
Around 43% of surveyed Australian growers were reported to use some form of harvest weed seed control. Integrated impact mills can destroy more than 98% of collected weed seeds before they return to the soil.
Research suggests that adding harvest weed seed control at only 50% effectiveness can lift total seasonal weed control from 98% to 99%. That final percentage point can be important because it shifts the system from maintaining the weed seedbank towards actively reducing it.
Growers considering chaff lining, chaff carts or impact mills should account for weed species, seed-retention characteristics, harvest height, machinery compatibility and residue-management objectives.
How AgriChain supports more efficient harvest preparation
Harvest preparation becomes more difficult when field plans, transport schedules, quality records and storage information are managed across disconnected spreadsheets, phone calls and paper-based processes.
AgriChain helps growers and producers create a more connected view of harvest operations by bringing key supply chain activities into one platform.
During harvest, this can support teams by helping them:
- Coordinate field activity, transport and delivery schedules
- Track crop movements from paddock to storage or receival point
- Capture quality, quantity and load information in a consistent format
- Improve visibility across growers, contractors, carriers and site teams
- Reduce duplicated data entry and communication gaps
- Maintain traceable records for operational, commercial and compliance needs
The value is not simply having more data. It is giving the right people access to timely information so they can respond faster when weather changes, machinery is delayed, storage capacity tightens or a load needs to be redirected.
For larger and geographically dispersed operations, this shared visibility can help reduce avoidable delays and support better decisions throughout the harvest window.
Key takeaways
Prepare early, measure consistently and keep the supply chain connected
Efficient harvest preparation is not one task completed before the first machine enters the field. It is a coordinated process involving crop monitoring, equipment calibration, labour, transport, storage, quality management and communication.
The research shows that growers who physically measure harvest losses can achieve substantially better outcomes than those relying on visual estimates alone. The same principle applies across the wider supply chain: better visibility supports better decisions.
By combining practical field preparation with connected supply chain information, growers can reduce uncertainty, protect crop value and respond more effectively when harvest conditions change.
AgriChain helps growers, producers and agribusinesses connect harvest activity, crop movements, quality records and logistics in one place. Explore how AgriChain can support a more coordinated and traceable harvest operation.
Research References
- Our World in Data — Share of food lost in post-harvest processes by region
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/food-loss-postharvest-by-region - 50×2030 Initiative — Technical Note on Post-Harvest Losses
https://www.50×2030.org/sites/default/files/resources/documents/2021-09/TechNoteOnPHL_final_rev.pdf - Food and Agriculture Organization — Post-Harvest Food Losses Estimation
https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/ess/documents/meetings_and_workshops/GS_SAC_2013/Improving_methods_for_estimating_post_harvest_losses/Final_PHLs_Estimation_6-13-13.pdf - Reducing Postharvest Losses During Storage of Grain Crops
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5296677/ - GRDC GroundCover — Harvest losses in the 2022–23 season exceed acceptable thresholds
https://groundcover.grdc.com.au/innovation/industry-insights/harvest-losses-in-the-202223-season-exceed-acceptable-thresholds - Foundation for Arable Research — Measuring Harvest Loss in New Zealand 2025
https://assets.far.org.nz/FAR-Harvest-Loss-Data-Report-2025.pdf - Action contre la Faim — Post-Harvest Losses and Strategies to Reduce Them
https://www.actioncontrelafaim.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/01/technical_paper_phl__.pdf - GRDC GroundCover — Measuring harvest loss in Western Australia
https://groundcover.grdc.com.au/farm-business/business-management/measuring-harvest-loss-in-wa - GRDC GroundCover — Measure harvest losses to save time and make money
https://groundcover.grdc.com.au/farm-business/harvest/measure-harvest-losses-to-save-time-and-make-money - South Dakota State University Extension — Harvesting for Maximum Soybean Yields
https://extension.sdstate.edu/harvesting-maximum-soybean-yields - Arkansas Cooperative Extension — Importance of Minimizing Field Losses During Soybean Harvest
https://www.uaex.uada.edu/publications/pdf/FSA-1048.pdf - South Dakota State University Extension — Reducing Corn Harvest Losses
https://extension.sdstate.edu/sites/default/files/2019-09/S-0003-36-Corn.pdf - Foundation for Arable Research — Measuring Losses at Harvest
https://www.far.org.nz/resources/measuring-losses-at-harvest - South Dakota State University — Determining Harvest Losses in Soybeans
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=37&article=1001&context=plant_book&type=additional
