Harvest Around the Corner – Where is the Greatest Potential?

During pod fill is a good time to assess yield potential leading up to harvest. The variable staging this year has not evened out and will require more management at harvest. It may be beneficial to mark or section off fields based on similar staging and yield potential. Know where the greatest yield potential is within the field and plan to focus on protecting it the most. The greatest yield potential includes the plants with most seeds but also earliest maturing to escape a fall frost. Yield potential can be determined by counting the number of pods on a plant and the number of seeds per pod. Pods can be plucked and held up to the light to determine the number of seeds within the pod. Is the staging so variable that a desiccant may be needed to hasten maturity on the latest plants? Would swathing be better than straight cutting or vice versa? Is there a lot of green weed growth that will require a pre-harvest application?