The indicators of the feed output and, in general, the profitability of animal husbandry rely on the effectiveness of forage harvesters. Models depicting the performance and fuel use of forage harvesters were received resulting from the analysis of the fuctioning indicators. An effectiveness ratio was suggested for a comparative analysis of their effectiveness. It considers the relationship between performance and fuel use while harvesting grasses of different yields. Three forage harvesters: Jaguar-840, Jaguar-690 and Maral-125 are analyzed in this article when selecting grass windrows dried to a moisture content of 65%. Comparative analysis of the concerned forage harvesters revealed that the fullest loading of the Jaguar-840 and Jaguar-690 harvesters is achieved with a yield of grass more than 17.5 t/ha, and the Maral-125 combine harvester-with a yield of grass more than 10 t / ha. If the grass yield is up to 7 t / ha, the fuel rate of the harvesters is almost the same. Its changes occurs along a decreasing exponential curve with an increase in the yield of grass. The highest effectiveness ratio, equal to 33.54 (ha / shift)×(t / l), during silage preparation, has a Jaguar-840 forage harvester with a grass yield of 10.0-20.0 t / ha. The lowest effectiveness ratio is 5.63 (ha / shift)×(t / l), has Maral-125 harvester in the grass cutting with a yield of 25.0-30.0 t / ha.

Silage is the main type of feed in the diet of cattle. Violation of the agrotechnical terms of laying silos for more than 4 days contributes to a decrease in the quality of grass feed. Therefore, when harvesting silage, it is necessary to form a harvesting and transport complex of technical means that would ensure the timely filling of storage. The forage harvester performs the most energy-intensive operations in the technological process of harvesting feed from grasses. Therefore, the efficiency of the entire technological process depends on the optimal ratio of the number of combines and the vehicles that serve them. To optimize the system “technological machine-vehicles”, it is important to apply the methods of the queuing theory, which takes into account the probabilistic downtime of forage harvesters. The use of this solution method in the formation of a harvesting and transport complex based on a statistical model allows us to ensure the flow of the technological process of delivering grass mass from the field in the storage during the acyclic movement of vehicles. Optimization according to the statistical model helps to reduce the cost of silage production by up to 5% due to a more rational amount of vehicle use.