The proportion of total above-ground crop biomass that ends up as harvested grain rather than straw and chaff — a measure of how efficiently the plant converted its growth into saleable product.
Modern well-managed wheat crops partition around 0.40–0.50 of their above-ground biomass into grain; a low harvest index signals biomass that never filled to grain.
GRDC Water Use Efficiency ↗A crop can grow plenty of bulk yet return a poor harvest index if a stress at flowering or grain-fill cut the grain short. Watching it separates a biomass problem (early vigour, nutrition) from a grain-fill problem (frost, heat, moisture at the finish).
Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses, and keeps the figure current automatically.
Protect the grain-fill window from frost and heat through sowing date and variety.
Keep the crop green and the flag leaf healthy with timely fungicide and nutrition.
Avoid excess early nitrogen that grows straw at the expense of grain.
The proportion of total above-ground crop biomass that ends up as harvested grain rather than straw and chaff — a measure of how efficiently the plant converted its growth into saleable product.
You need: Grain yield (kg/ha), Total above-ground biomass (kg/ha). Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses and keeps the figure current automatically.
Modern well-managed wheat crops partition around 0.40–0.50 of their above-ground biomass into grain; a low harvest index signals biomass that never filled to grain.
Protect the grain-fill window from frost and heat through sowing date and variety. Keep the crop green and the flag leaf healthy with timely fungicide and nutrition. Avoid excess early nitrogen that grows straw at the expense of grain.
Connect the software, spreadsheets and records you already keep, and Silo keeps every benchmark on this page current automatically.
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