With light frost in the forecast, crop left standing will still have a chance to mature further and yield more. A heavy frost will lock in high green counts and likely increase yield loss with pod splitting and pod drop. Swathing before the heavy frost event may prevent this green lock, but the crop needs to dry down to a seed moisture level of 20% or less.
As we progress further into September, growers get more anxious to swath. Swathing at 60% seed colour change is still preferred, but by this date some growers don’t want to wait any longer. Here are some scenarios that may help with the decision to go or wait….
The key harvest management issue with snow on standing canola concerns not so much the precipitation (although heavy snow can cause lodging) but the frost that comes with it.
The common scenarios growers face with the snow on standing canola are:
1. Canola is immature when snow falls.
2. Canola is ready to swath when snow falls.
3. Canola left standing for straight combining is hit with snow.
Here is a description of each scenario, along with some tips to help with decision making….
This time of year, mature canola seeds can take a long time to turn brown or black. Growers wondering why seed colour change is taking so long may want to check the fields again and look for these other signs of maturity….
Crops left standing for straight combining could face high losses if growers change their mind and choose to swath after the crop has reached 80% seed colour change. If a field that ripe must be swathed, cut in very moist conditions (rain or heavy dew) to limit shattering as much as possible. The final decision on whether to swath or straight cut really needs to be made prior to the optimal swathing stage of 60% SCC.
Disease assessment.
Seed colour change assessment.
Count plants.
Prep the combine.
Growers can lose up to 5 bu./ac. of canola during harvest, with many of those losses occurring as canola enters and exits the combine. Combine losses should be less than 1 bu./ac., and hopefully more like half a bushel.
Here are the top 10 tips to keep combine losses to a minimum….
The key harvest management issue with snow on standing canola concerns not so much the precipitation (although heavy snow can cause lodging) but the frost that comes with it.
The common scenarios growers face with the snow on standing canola are:
1. Canola is immature when snow falls
2. Canola is ready to swath when snow falls.
3. Canola left standing for straight combining is hit with snow.
Here is a description of each scenario, along with some tips to help with decision making…
The ideal swath timing is when 60% of seeds on the main stem are showing some colour change from green to brown. However, various factors complicate the swath timing decision, including frost and uneven crops due to hail. A few other scenarios surfaced this week, including late starts, disease and lodging (shown above).
Here are factors that create the ideal situation for straight combining canola…