sugarcane harvester

{{Short description|Harvesting machine}}

File:Sudan Envoy - Kenana Machinery (cropped).jpg

A sugarcane harvester is a large piece of agricultural machinery used to harvest and partially process sugarcane.[https://books.google.com/books?id=T-QDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1930+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=-PA94 "Sugar-Cane Harvester Cuts Forty-Tons an Hour" Popular Mechanics Monthly, July 1930]

The machine, originally developed in the 1920s, remains similar in function and design to the combine harvester. Essentially a storage vessel on a truck with a mechanical extension, the machine cuts the stalks at the base, strips the leaves off, and then cuts the cane into segments. These are then deposited into either the on-board container, or a separate vehicle traveling alongside. Waste material is then ejected back onto the field, where it acts as fertilizer.{{Cite web | url=http://www.zelmeroz.com/album_rail/ctn/ctn_07.pdf | title=Mechanical Sugar Cane Harvesters | website=www.zelmeroz.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bae.ksu.edu/precisionag/Papers/Fiber%20Optic%20Yield%20Monitor%20for%20a%20Sugarcane%20Harvester.pdf|title=Fiber optic yield monitor for a sugarcane harvester|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426011119/http://www.bae.ksu.edu/precisionag/Papers/Fiber%20Optic%20Yield%20Monitor%20for%20a%20Sugarcane%20Harvester.pdf|archivedate=2012-04-26}}{{Cite web |url=http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-1109102-124123/unrestricted/Benjamin_thesis.pdf |title=Sugar cane yield monitoring system |access-date=2011-11-30 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304022924/http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-1109102-124123/unrestricted/Benjamin_thesis.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://ufdc.ufl.edu/SW10000603/00001 |title=Sugar cane harvester machine loading wagons (4) |publisher=Ufdc.ufl.edu |date= |accessdate=2012-02-26}}{{cite web|url=http://ian.umces.edu/imagelibrary/displayimage-topn-22-1081.html |title=Sugarcane Harvester - Most viewed - Photo (JPG) - IAN Image and Video Library - Free High Resolution and Vector Environmental Science Images |publisher=Ian.umces.edu |date= |accessdate=2012-02-26}}