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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…
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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…
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Disease assessment. Seed colour change assessment. Count plants. Prep the combine…
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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…
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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…
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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)…
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Growers have three steps to assess combine losses: 1. Measure the losses. Drop pans are required, given that combine loss monitors are not always accurate or calibrated properly. How to measure losses. 2. Determine whether those losses are acceptable. 3. If not acceptable, take measures to reduce the losses. Les Hill is the manager of technical services and business development…
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Excess moisture has caused some canola to sprout inside pods. There is not much growers can do to avoid this, and combining early is not an option — given the storage risk. Sprouted seed is categorized as “damaged” seed, which is a grading factor. No.1 canola can have a maximum 5% damaged seed. No.2 can have up to 12% damaged…
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Swathing too early and in hot windy conditions can contribute to high levels of green seed. Cutting canola in hot conditions leads to rapid dry down and desiccation, which doesn’t give chlorophyll time to clear from immature seed. Waiting until less mature seed is at least firm to roll between thumb and forefinger will help minimize yield reductions from early…
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