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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…
Swath timing
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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)… -
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… -
The swath decision becomes more difficult in crops with plants at multiple stages of growth. For example, if some plants are at 60% seed colour change (SCC) on the main stem and other plants are still flowering, growers may want to hold off on swathing. Or if plants are large with many secondary stems, the main stem may be at… -
If your crop is looking healthy and strong with uniform maturity, you will likely have no problem deciding when to swath. However, if you have some variability in the staging of your stand due to hail damage, drowned out areas, dry areas, heat blasting, insect damage, disease or weed issues, it will make swath timing a more complicated decision… -
Cutting canola after 50% seed colour change will increase crop yields because side branches have longer to fill and average seed size for the whole plant is larger… -
Late season hail can damage pods and increase the shattering risk for those pods. Before jumping the gun and swathing too early, take these decision-making steps… -
The question is, how soon is too soon to combine after swathing? There is not set length of time that canola must stay in the swath before combining. If moisture is below 10% and green is below 2%, go combining. Two to three weeks of curing is just an estimate… -
Swathing canola when temperatures are hot can cause two potential problems for the crop: 1. Rapid dry down due to hot conditions does not give the green-clearing enzymes enough time to reduce chlorophyll levels in the seed, and green counts can be elevated. 2. Very dry pods can shatter if swathed on a hot day…
