Issues of the week

Warm days forecast for the coming week will give later canola crops a good chance to ripen further before swathing. If growers have a lot of canola to swath and feel they must swath something, go with the most mature crop first. On hot days, swath in the evening to give plants time to dry down slowly and let the green clearing processes function properly.

Swathing is a good time to flag large weed patches. If these patches surprise you, consider what contributed to these escapes. Are these particular species a challenge for your preferred herbicide tolerance system to control? Could they be resistant to certain herbicide groups? Or did stressful conditions contribute to reduced efficacy or poor crop competition for later emerging weeds? Identifying and recording the location of these weeds at swathing will help you with a management plan for next year.

Swathing is also a good time to scout for disease outbreaks. Clubroot incidence seems to be increasing this year, and spotting the disease now will give growers a chance to implement containment strategies.

When combining in hot conditions, put canola on aeration right away to cool it down. Also check any canola that was binned hot in the past few weeks. It should also be on aeration. Even canola at 8% moisture can start to heat if stored hot.