Many growers who have tried straight combining canola often see no clear advantage or disadvantage when it comes to yield. The value of eliminating the swathing step is enough for many, even if it means an added step to apply a harvest aid such as glyphosate, Heat or Reglone. This article looks at situations where swathing may still have an advantage over straight combining.
Weed escapes and fall weed management
While swathing or straight combining, keep an eye out for weed escapes. Unless they are an obvious sprayer miss or are weeds not well controlled under the herbicides used on the field, they could be herbicide resistant weed patches.
Frost: Take patient approach to swathing
Usually the best response to a light frost is to leave the crop standing to mature fully and continue to clear green.
Swath timing blues? Cut the first two rounds
Still wondering when to swath uneven crops? If earliest plants in a field show obvious signs of maturity, with lots of seed colour change on the main stem, then cut the first two rounds. Two full rounds give a good impression of the state of the whole field. And the cleared space makes it much easier to quickly check a number of plants in a few areas — including the back of the field — for seed colour change.
Top 10 things to scout after swathing two rounds
Tangled mature canola fields can be hard to scout. Swathing two full rounds before scouting makes it much easier to quickly check a number of plants in a few areas — including the back of the field. Here are things to look for….
Keep it Clean – Harvest season reminders
(1) When spraying and prior to swathing or straight combining, stick to the pre-harvest interval (PHI) unique to each product. (2) Remember that canola buyers will be asking producers to declare if they have used quinclorac this year. (3) When prepping bins, follow canola storage recommendations.
Swath or straight cut lodged crop?
Whatever the cause for lodging — wind, rain, late-season hail — the crop will present a harvest challenge. Swathing low to the ground doesn’t leave much stubble to hold the swaths in a wind. Swathing lodged crop often leaves a lot of bunches in the windrow. And lodged crop may need to be swathed in the same direction. Neither of these scenarios is ideal.
Equipment for straight combining
Specialty headers designed to straight combine canola seem to provide an improvement over standard straight cut headers. These specialty headers have the cutterbar out in front of the reel to catch seed that drops on impact from the reel bats.
Pre-harvest weed control
Growers considering a pre-harvest glyphosate cannot apply it to canola (RR or non-RR) until seed moisture drops to 30% or lower. This roughly coincides with 30% seed colour change. Spraying earlier raises the potential for glyphosate residue in seed. Pre-harvest glyphosate will kill green weeds and even out the non-RR canola for straight combining. Group-14 Heat can now be used with glyphosate for pre-harvest weed control or crop drydown.
Try this handy tool: Spraytoswath.ca
The quick and easy pre-harvest interval tool — the spray-to-swath calculator — helps you find a fungicide, insecticide or pre-harvest herbicide that fits your timeframe available.