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Canola Council of Canada

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Harvest

The following articles are categorized as 'Harvest'

• High green? Pros and cons of waiting to combine

  

  Growers with dry canola and high green counts are wondering whether to leave the swathed crop a while longer or combine now and accept the grade loss. When making that decision, ask: Is moisture in the forecast? How green is it? What’s the price discount? These and other considerations will help with the decision.

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• Frost in forecast: Should you swath now?

  With light frost in the forecast, crop left standing will still have a chance to mature further. A heavy frost will lock in high green counts unless the crop has adequate dry down time to achieve a seed moisture of 20% or less. Swathing has to occur at least 3 good drying days before the frost to achieve this benefit. If the crop is that green, however, growers may want to take the chance on a light frost knowing the crop needs more time to mature.

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• After frost: Wait at least 4-6 hours for initial damage assessment

  Canola can usually withstand a light frost, and immature crops are best left standing to finish. However, check anyway. The crop may look undamaged that morning but by lunch time, wilting, desiccation and pod splitting may begin. If you scout early and then not again, you may underestimate the damage and miss a chance to swath now to save some of the yield.

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• How to ID low-level blackleg

  High levels of blackleg have been found in some canola fields this year. Quite likely blackleg was present the last time canola was grown on these fields but went undetected based on a lack of obvious yield losses. Just before or while swathing are the best times to check plants for blackleg and other diseases. Uninfected parts of the plant still have some green colour, making discoloration due to disease infection easier to see. Read more for blackleg identification tips and helpful photos.

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• What to do with high-green canola

  Canola needs to move back up to 20% moisture and temperatures need to be 15 C or warmer before enzymes to reduce chlorophyll will restart and function effectively. Growers with high green canola in the swath have time to wait, if they choose, to see if these necessary rains come along.

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• Tips to reduce combine losses

  Canola growers can lose up to 5 bushels or more per acre if the combine isn’t adjusted properly. This article includes tips on how to measure combine losses. If losses are too high, growers can lower them by adjusting fan speed and sieves, for example, and by slowing down the whole combine operation.

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• Canola yielded lower than expected. Why?

  

  Growers and agronomists may be able to find clues to explain lower yields by looking at the plants, pods and seeds. Did the pods form? Did pods fill properly? Are seeds there but small or shriveled? Read more to see what these may mean, and what can be done to reduce these losses next year.

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• Disease assessment at swathing

  When doing their own disease surveys, growers may find it easier to check crops while swathing. Stop at five random spots in the field while swathing and check 20 standing plants at each spot. This will give you a good idea how much of the field actually had sclerotinia or blackleg or clubroot, for example.

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• Sprayed late, now what?

  

  Many canola crops are maturing earlier than expected this year, in many cases due to hot weather. This has put some growers in a bind. They had sprayed insecticide expecting to be outside the pre-harvest interval (PHI) required between application and the planned cutting date, but now as the crop approaches swathing timing they realize that not enough time has passed. It is important that growers follow the PHI for all products, otherwise harvested seed could exceed pesticide residue limits for key markets. Samples from all grower deliveries are saved, so any infraction can be traced back. So what to do?

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• Tips to reduce wind damage to swaths

  Thin crops and high winds can lead to heavy shattering losses if swaths start to roll. Here are tips to reduce potential losses from swaths blowing:

  —Swath parallel to the typical prevailing winds in the area.
  —Cut the plants as high as possible, just below the lowest pod.
  —Using a properly adjusted swath roller, push down the swath so that the edges are nestled into the stubble. Because the swath will be on or close to the ground, curing and/or dry down time may take longer.

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