Bill, nice of you to acknowledge my contribution to the bagasse topic, thanks. Rio Hondo Cane must be a most interesting enterprise. Off topic but where do you sell the juice?
Presumably your bagasse is in the form of crushed, whole stalks of sugarcane and the sugar content will be significant. If you shred the crushed stalks (some
wood chippers do an excellent job), the pile(s) will heat up very rapidly when mixed with
chicken manure. Depending on the scale of your operation, you might want to consider the static,
aerated pile method. Have a look at the final report of trials done at a commercial compost facility in California
http://www.valleyair.org/grant_programs/TAP/documents/C-15636-ACP/C-15636_ACP_FinalReport.pdf. If sugarcane tops are easily collected, I would include them in the compost.
The haul distances for field application would have to be very long to justify making pellets from the compost. Mill-run bagasse is the very devil to pelletise. Compost will be easier but will cause high wear. The high temperature generated in pellet presses would kill the beneficial micro flora. Pan or drum agglomeration might be a better option if the compost must be densified for transport.
You could also consider charring some of the bagasse for incorporation in the compost. Sun-dried crushed stalks would seem to be an ideal material for charring in an open cone kiln (e.g.
http://www.ithaka-institut.org/en/ct/101-Kon-Tiki-open-fire-kiln).
As Brett mentions, auto-ignition is a real possibility but rare. The sugar industry has researched the conditions causing auto-ignition in bagasse piles. Moisture is a factor as a sustained increase in temperature to 180 oC to 200 oC (when charring is visible) is caused by an exothermic chemical reaction. Our experience with charring in superheated steam drying of sugarcane confirms the danger point is about 35% moisture. The rough number is backed up by hay stack fires (wetter than normal hay) and the Louisiana sugar mill experience with bagasse piles drying out (lower than the normal 50% moisture content).
Finally on the question of feed from bagasse; the prospects are not very promising. The best results were obtained when the lignin bonds in the bagasse fibre were broken down e.g. by addition of caustic soda or by steam treatment. Even so digestibility and palatability remain low.
All the best with your efforts to utilise bagasse.