Sustainable Performance of an Advanced Stripper Header in Cereal Harvesting: Implications for Grain Loss Reduction and Fuel Efficiency Under Different Crop Conditions

The transition toward sustainable agricultural systems requires the optimization of harvesting technologies. This study evaluates the performance of an advanced stripper header in cereal harvesting, focusing on its role in reducing grain losses and fuel consumption under different crop conditions. Field experiments were conducted on spelt wheat, rye, triticale, and common wheat to assess the interaction between harvesting parameters and crop characteristics. The results indicate substantial variability in harvesting performance across crops. The highest proportional grain losses were observed in spelt wheat and rye, accounting for 45.8% and 42.1% of total losses, respectively, while triticale and common wheat exhibited significantly lower loss shares of 5.4% and 6.7%. From a resource-efficiency perspective, triticale harvesting demonstrated the most sustainable performance, combining the lowest fuel consumption (6.8 L ha −1 ) with minimal grain losses (0.01%), followed by common wheat (14.2 L ha −1 ; 0.02%). In contrast, spelt wheat showed the highest fuel demand (22.81 L ha −1 ) and grain losses (0.13%). Economic analysis further revealed that grain losses translated into the highest cost per hectare in spelt wheat (0.18 EUR ha −1 ), highlighting the economic dimension of sustainable resource management. Overall, the findings demonstrate that advanced stripper header technology can improve harvesting efficiency by reducing fuel consumption and harvest-related losses when appropriately adapted to crop type.