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Harvesting affects yield and milling quality of rice so growers must harvest rice as carefully as
they grow it. Value for most classes of rice in the United States is determined primarily by the
percent of whole milled grain (head rice) and total milled grain, although additional quality
characteristics related to appearance and eating quality may also be used in certain markets. For
example, the 1998 crop USDA loan values for medium and short grain rice average $.043/cwt.
for each point of head rice. At a yield of 80 cwt./ac, this is $3.44/ac for every point of head rice
gained or lost. Total rice is worth about $.049/cwt., or $3.92/ac for every point. As the overall
market value of rice changes, the value of milling quality changes proportionately. The point is
that high milling quality pays dividends. During harvesting, what can growers do to maximize
milling quality?
Milling yield for California medium and short grain varieties tends to drop as moisture goes
below 20% and both head and total rice decrease above 27- 30% moisture content. Long grain
rice is an exception and produces highest quality at lower harvest moisture (Table 1).
Table 1. California rice varieties and suggested optimum harvest moisture for maximizing milling
quality.
Variety
Comment
CM-101
Dries rapidly during ripening, uniform maturity; best head rice at 23-26%
S-102
Watch carefully, pubescent variety that looses moisture rapidly; has high head potential; cut at 2023%.
Calhikari-201
High milling yield potential but somewhat less than Japanese varieties; harvest in 22-24% moisture
range. Quality assessment for this and other Japanese-type varieties goes beyond milling yields
Akitakomachi
Koshihikari
M-103
Very good milling quality; yield and quality may be reduced by early planting in warm areas; head
rice stable over a wide range of harvest moisture, but total increases slightly at lower moisture.
M-202
Ripens uniformly, threshes easily; head rice fairly sensitive to declining moisture, best to cut at 2224%.
M-204
Higher head and total potential than M-202; threshes easily; head more stable over wider moisture
range than M-202.
M-205
Slightly higher head and total potential than M-202 when harvested at similar moisture content;
cool weather delays heading more than M-202 and this could affect milling quality.
M-401
Generally lower milling yields than other medium grains; head rice sensitive to low moisture
harvest; cut in 22-25% range.
M-402
L-204
Harvest at 16-17% moisture; avoid early draining; requires 40-45 days after heading to mature. Less
resistant to cold weather blanking than medium grains.
L-205
Harvest at 16-17% moisture but avoid letting moisture drop too low before harvest; dont begin
harvest until grain moisture is below 19% and green grains on the panicles are less than 1%.
A-201
Calmati 201
Because wetter rice is more expensive to dry, growers may compromise between cost and quality
and try to harvest at the economically optimum moisture content. No recent studies relate
head rice and drying costs to discover the optimum moisture, but the industry has generally
settled on 22+/- 1% moisture content as the best compromise of when to start cutting standard
short and medium grain rice. However, recent work demonstrated that high head yields at lower
moisture contents at harvest are possible under California conditions (Figure 1). Analysis of
receiving data from a major drying facility revealed that many growers harvested at moisture
contents as low as 20% while maintaining high head yields. In contrast, others harvesting at
optimal moisture produced lower mill quality.
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
Figure 1. Grain moisture content as received at the dryer and the corresponding head yield for
M-202 in 1996.
Growers should collect a sample prior to harvest to check its moisture. For best accuracy, use
a harvester to cut your sample. A combine sample will best represent the true moisture.
Alternatively, one can hand strip from random areas, but be sure to take some of the sample from
lower, less mature panicles. Avoid taking just the ripe grains from the topmost panicles.
Expedite handling after harvest and through the drying process to reduce head rice losses.
Ideally, rice should not sit in trucks overnight. A delay in aerating wet rice can reduce can reduce
quality characteristics, such as taste, which is important in some export markets (Figure 2).
Studies have shown that nonaerated wet rice begins to produce ethanol within hours of harvest.
The evolution of ethanol corresponds to the development off-flavors and odors in cooked rice,
designated as a sour/silage odor by an USDA taste panel (Figure 3).
Most sunchecking occurs in the field before harvest from dew and rain, but rehydration of dry
kernels can also occur after harvest as grain sits in harvester bins, bankout carts, trucks and
holding bins, as moisture transfers from wet to dry kernels.
quality. Acceptable losses are less than 5% (400 lbs/ac at 80 cwt./ac yield). California studies
found that the average rice field after harvest had about 300 lbs/ac grain on the ground. This
suggests growers are doing a good job of adjusting combines to minimize losses. After losses are
minimized, reduction in grain damage is achieved by adjusting the threshing mechanism.
70
65
Taste Score
60
55
50
SE=0.8
45
40
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
Time (hr)
Figure 2. Effect of delayed aeration after harvest on the taste quality of Akitakomachi.
Sour/silage
Combine speed and variety (Figure 4) influenced grain recovery performance of cutter bar
headers as compared to stripper headers. Based on header performance studies and southern rice
varieties, there were no differences in efficiency between the two header types at speeds less
than 1 mph. However, operating a stripper header above 2 mph resulted in a substantial increase
in harvest loss. Stripper header performance was also decreased when harvesting the shorter
variety with a robust and prominent flag leaf projecting well above the head.
Figure 4. Relative harvest loss of a stripper header compared to a conventional header mounted
on IH 1680 combines in two southern rice varieties. Source: Bennett et al., 1993.
environmental factors is temperature. A five-year study from 1979 to 1984 based on over 1000
dryer receiving lots found that head yields are not generally affected by temperature immediately
before harvest (Figure 3-A). The exception to this observation is the very early varieties. In
which case, head yield declined with increasing temperatures. The head yield for the very early
varieties improved as the harvest progressed, presumably, due in part to cooler temperatures
(Figure 5 B). Grain moisture content trended downward with increasing temperatures and was
not generally associated with harvest date (Figures 5 C & D). Differences in day and night time
temperatures did not affect head rice yields during the 5-year course of the study.
Understanding Harvester Basics
A
E
Max temp
Min temp
HARVEST WEEK
A combine is a machine that harvests (cuts and gathers the rice crop) and threshes (separates out
the grain from the plant and cleans the grain) the crop. All combines used in California rice
production are self-propelled, which means they have on-board engines, which propel the
combine and drive the combine mechanisms. Modern rice combines are powerful with 300+
horsepower and cut a wide swath, 18-22'. There are several types of combines. Cutterbar
headers cut the stems and separate grain and straw internally while stripper headers strip the
grain off the stalk without cutting. Both types are similar in other respects.
Some combines
thresh the rice using a cylinder running against a fixed concave, which is set crosswise in the
travel direction. Axial flow combines have a long rotor which also turns against a fixed surface
but which is set on the long axis of the combine. Separators vary also, including those, which use
a straw walker to pass the grain along a series of fishbacks allowing the grain to fall onto
screens and sieves, and tine separators, which are a kind of secondary cylinder and concave.
Axial flow combines use the rear end of the rotor to separate the straw and grain. Figure 1 shows
the main sections of a cutterbar combine.
Figure 6. Cutter bar combine and its major systems and functions.
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Cutterbar headers. The parts of a cutterbar header include a reel, as siclebar and either a gathering
auger or cross draper. The reel parts a section of the crop and pushes it against the cutterbar,
which cuts the stalk. Rice reels have fingers that help pick up lodged plants. As the cut stalk
falls backward into the combine, helped by the reel, the draper helps move it toward the
gathering auger which in turn carries it to the center of the header into the feeding mechanism. See
Figure 6. Some aftermarket headers use cross drapers, which replace the function of the gathering
auger. Some feel they provide more even feeding. Reels can be adjusted forward and back and
up and down. In standing grain, the bats should strike the grain just below the lowest grain
heads. The peripheral reel speed should be 1.25 times greater than the ground speed. The
formula for reel speed, RPM in relation to ground speed is:
Stripper headers. This type of header uses a rotating drum equipped with stripping fingers
which operate under a cowl or shroud which deflects the crop under it and briefly traps the
heads so the stripping elements can comb off the grain. This header can be attached to standard
combines of all types. With stripper headers, the threshing and separation functions of the
combines are little used and mainly pass the grain on to the cleaning and handling systems (Figure
7). Rotation of rotor is upward so that grain is swept into the header. An auger takes it to the
feeder mechanism.
Figure 7. Stripper header showing rotor and stripper elements (cover not in place).
Feeding mechanism. As the cut material enters the throat of the combine, called the feeder house,
a feed conveyor feeds it into the threshing mechanism.
Cylinders and concaves. These remove the grain from the stems by rubbing and abrasive action.
Both spike tooth and raspbar types are used in rice. The former is more aggressive and may give
more complete threshing but with slightly more grain damage, while the latter is considered more
gentle but with slightly higher losses. California studies suggest that the virtue of one offsets
those of the other (Figure 8).
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Cleaning. A fan blows air up through the bottom of the chaffer and sieve to aerodynamically
separate the chaff and small stems from the grain. The chaffer and sieve together are called the
cleaning shoe. The chaffer is an oscillating frame, which suspends straw and chaff so it can be
carried out the end of the combine. Next, the sieve, which has smaller openings than the chaffer
and operates in a similar manner, does the final cleaning. See Figure 10.
Handling. Elevators and augers are used to convey the grain, clean grain going into the storage
tank at the top, or, in the case of unthreshed material from the end of the shoe called tailings,
back to the threshing cylinder where it passes through a second time. From the storage tank and
unloading auger moves the grain into bankout wagons driven alongside the combine.
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The initial settings in Table 2 are reasonable for long grains, which thresh easily. For more
difficult to thresh short and medium grain varieties, California rice growers should increase
cylinder speed to 550-700, decrease clearance to 19 mm (3/4") and decrease fan speed to 10501150. Varieties that are difficult to thresh, such as Koshihikari, might require higher cylinder
speed and less clearance.
Table 2. Initial settings for long grain varieties recommended by manufacturers. Adjust for
medium and short grains.
With Shelbourne
Operation/Model
JD CTS II
Case/IH 2388
Reynolds header
800
400-500
Cylinder speed
400-550
Concave setting, mm
28
1200
Screens
Forward speed
Depends on crop ripeness, moisture, standing or lodged, soil moisture, power available,
Indicator at 1
3-4 mm minimum
880
Full speed
Full open
While harvester settings can affect milling yields, the magnitude is usually not as much as for
harvest moisture content unless they are way off. Settings that are most important to maintaining
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milling yields are cylinder speed and cylinder clearance, according to work in California.
Researchers working on common short stature varieties found a significant effect of cylinder
speed on milling yield. An increase of 100 rpm decreased head rice 0 .2, 1.0, 1.0 and 2.6 points
and losses decreased by 1.1, 0.5, 0.5, and 3.0 points for CalBelle, M9, M-201 and M-401,
respectively.
Generally, the reduction in head rice was offset by the increase in recovery as cylinder speed
increased. Speeding up the cylinder increased revenue for the long grain variety by about 8%,
in a range of 420 - 700 rpm but did not change revenue for M-201 between 500 and 890 rpm or
M9 between 900 and 1100 rpm. Cylinder/concave clearance did not make a great deal of
difference in this study. In comparison tests of rasp and spike tooth cylinder, the rasp bar was
gentler and produced slightly higher milling yields, but had greater losses which offset the head
rice gains. Both cylinder types produced lower head rice and lower losses as cylinder speed
increased in a range of 500-880 rpm on M-201. There was no significant advantage of one over
the other in respect to revenue. Generally, in this study, reducing losses was worth more than
increasing head rice. And, each variety needed its own cylinder speed and forward speed for
optimum performance.
In more recent work in Arkansas rotor harvester settings were studied for their effects on losses
and milling yield. Depending on the variety, the most important factors relating to losses were
feedrate (the amount of material in the harvester at any one time which is affected by forward
speed and cutter bar height) and the ratio of material other than grain (MOG) to grain (G).
MOG/G ratio is the composition of material in the harvester. Grain moisture content,
composition of the material, feedrate and rotor speed had only small impacts on quality in this
study. Field variability was more important than combine settings.
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Troubleshooting Combines
Grain loss and damage troubleshooting guides are usually included in the operators manual.
Identification of problems requires frequent checking for losses on the ground, at the reel and
behind and inside the machine, and for signs of damaged grain in the tank. The following tables
are adapted from operator manuals and provide suggested remedies for various problems.
Possible Adjustments
Unthreshed grain
Close concave
Increase cylinder/rotor speed
Increase tine speed
Add concave fillers
axle
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Possible Adjustments
Lower header
lower cowl
Increase forward speed
Trash in sample
Close concave
Close sieve
Cracked grainr
Stripper torque
limiter
operating
excessively
Raise header
Decrease forward speed
Crop too green
Increase rotor speed
NOTE: California rice is generally heavier than Southern varieties so the operator manual tables
for loss calculations are not accurate. For California varieties, approximately 35 kernels/ft2 is
equal to 100 lbs/ac.
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By measurement.
First, follow procedures 1 to 4 above.
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Number of rice kernels (medium grain) per foot square to equal 100 lbs/ac
Separator
width (in.)
15'
16'
18'
20'
22'
29"
57
--
--
--
--
38"
43
45
51
57
--
44"
37
39
44
49
54
55"
29
31
35
39
44
Once the source of an unacceptable loss has been identified, the information in Table 6 below will
help you identify the cause and correct it.
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Source of loss
Cause of loss
Remedy
Preharvest losses
Header losses
Threshing losses
Shoe losses
Leakage losses
alkers
throughput
Close doors
In summary, timing of harvest is the most important quality related decision rice growers make.
Harvesters have less impact on milling yield and should be adjusted to minimize losses first then
fine tuned to reduce damage. Growers should also expedite transport of harvested grain to the
drier.
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Bibliography
In: Andrews, S.B., T.J.Siebenmorgen,E.D. Vories, D.H. Loewer, and A. Mauromoustakos. 1993.
Effects of combine operating parameters on harvest loss and quality in rice. Amer. Soc. Ag. Eng,
vol 36(6): 1599-1607, Nov-Dec.
Bennett, KE, TJ Siebenmorgan, E Vories, and A Mauromoustakos. 1993. Rice harvesting
performance of Shelbourne Reynolds stripper headers. Arkansas Farm Research, 42(4):4.
Geng, S., J.F. Williams, and J.E. Hill. 1984. harvest moisture effects on rice milling quality. In
California Agriculture, Nov.-Dec. pp 11-12.
Kunze, O.R. 1985. Effect of environment and variety on milling qualities of rice. In: Rice grain
quality and marketing. International Rice Research Institute. pp 37-48.
Miller, G.E., B.M. Jenkins, S. Upadhyaya, and J. Knutson. 1985. Rice harvesting research, In
Comprehensive research on rice, annual report. California Rice Research Board. pp 91-98.
Xu, X.B. and B.S. Vergara. 1986. Morphological changes in rice panicle development. A review
of literature. International Rice Research Institute. Res. paper ser. 117. 13 pp.
Yoshida, S. 1981. Fundamentals of rice crop science. International Rice Research Institute.269
pp.
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