Optimal Harvest-Milling Scheduling in the Sugar Industry

Losses from decay in mechanically-harvested sugar cane could be reduced if the harvest-milling operation were carefully planned. A function relating sugar content of cane to time of harvest and harvest to milling delay is introduced. This function is incorporated in a calculus of variations functional, whose maximum describes the harvesting schedule. The solution of the problem contains a theorem which appears to be useful in economic planning