A sugarcane harvester for harvesting sugarcane in a forward direction of travel comprises a chopper, a basket, and a sill. The chopper chops stalks of sugarcane into billets, and comprises a lower drum and an upper drum that counter-rotates relative to one another, each about a respective axis of rotation. The basket is positioned to receive a stream of billets discharged from the chopper. The sill is positioned between the chopper and the basket to guide billets discharged from the chopper toward the basket. A plate of the sill comprises a billet guide surface oriented to guide billets over the sill.