## 3 Results and Discussion
### Quality of Work  
The average values for the four treatments for the cutting height and losses during steps 1 and 2 are reported in Table 5. During shredding, the cutting height was statistically different in the four treatments. In particular, the stem height of T2 (on average 13.3 cm) was statistically higher than the others. The losses of the four treatments during steps 1 and 2 were not statistically different. Figure 5: One of the giant reed bales obtained. T1 showed a slight increase in losses of stem particles over one meter in length, but the difference was not statistically significant. There was a loss of biomass that was not harvested (shredded or over-sized). This represents a real loss also due to the difference in the working width between the shredding and baling machines. The cutting height was always greater than 10 cm, which is directly related to the loss of product that did not enter the harvest process (Table 6). The losses for the cutting height were low. They were limited to 1.06 and 1.11 t ha\({}^{-1}\), respectively, for high and low yield (Table 6). However, the high speed led to higher loss (1.1 t ha\({}^{-1}\)) due to the higher cutting difficulty and the propensity to plant lower. The stems confirmed a higher recorded cutting height at higher working speeds: from 11.9 to 12.5 cm (data not shown). This study, which was carried out on giant reed harvesting in two fields at the Torre Lama farm in Bellizzi (Sa), highlighted some peculiarities of the crop and the adopted harvesting system; this system required meticulous management of the two phases, and careful monitoring of the soil and weather conditions was needed before the second phase (baling) to limit losses. The two-step harvest method showed some advantages, such as immediate biomass storage, 12-14% moisture, allowing long-term storage, better use of farm mechanization, the diversified use of the dried biomass (combustion, second-generation ethanol, etc. ), and fuel consumption in line or even less than other herbaceous crops for the Italian area [37]. Fuel consumption for chopping and stacking remained below 1.51 t\({}^{-1}\), and in some cases, there was close to 11 t\({}^{-1}\) of dried collected product with values rather similar to those of wheat harvest and equal to 1/3-1/4 of that required for the direct shredding of fresh product performed with SPFH but using machines with less economic engagement always for the management of fresh products [38]. Some limits were highlighted such as the high product losses in the ground (>12%, mainly due to the loss of fine fractions), the need for specific machines (both shredders and balers), the prolongation (>10 days) of field drying due to exposure to meteorological events and negative climatic events (e.g., rain), and the execution of repeated passages in the field with machines that were not equipped for the reduction of soil compaction. Regarding economic aspects, bibliography data suggest that it is not always easy to divide the costs between different harvest methodologies. As a consequence, costs are frequently estimated and grouped according to different machine and utilization levels [39]. The application of predictive software and models which, according to requirements and parameters, permit these costs to be defined at different yield levels is also frequent [40; 41]. The machine performance, in terms of both working speed and field capacity, agrees with data recorded on sorghum fiber by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [19]. The small differences found are due to the different incidences of turning times in the two different treatments. The total harvest loss for the two phases was 5.33 t ha\({}^{-1}\) for the high yield area and 4.41 t ha\({}^{-1}\) for the low yield areas--rather high values for this harvest system mostly due to the high values found in \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline  & **Cutting Height, cm** & **Ground Loss, t ha\({}^{-1}\)** \\ \hline High speed & 12.50 & 1.11 \\ Low speed & 11.90 & 1.06 \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}