Keeping canola in the pod long enough to fill the combine hopper and not be too green has a lot to do with when the crop is swathed.
Jim Bessel of the Canola Council of Canada said getting the timing right is difficult because of the way the plant behaves under different moisture and stress conditions.
“Where there is moisture, the crop will take more time to mature,” he said.
“This year that means any lower area for most farmers, except the Peace (River district of Alberta and British Columbia).”
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There has been enough rain in most areas to show low spots on even the flattest land. As a result, establishing an average condition for a field can be a challenge.
“You want to have 60 percent of the seeds on the main stem of the plant to be changed (in colour),” Bessel said.
“And you will be averaging that over the field. If it’s bad enough, cutting around very late areas may be an option.”
The lowest pods will be the most mature while the greenest will be at the top.
Sampling should begin about 10 days after the end of flowering.
The field should be assessed by its maturity regions and then five plants should be examined from each region to get a representative sample of overall maturity.
In average late summer conditions, about 10 percent of seeds will move from yellow or green to brown or black every two to three days. Revisiting the same places in the field will provide a good reference point to help judge maturity.
“You have to keep going out and sampling to be sure because heat and moisture can throw off the averages we have been used to with canola,” Bessel said.
“This is not a typical year, so we need to check everything.”
It’s time to swath when 60 percent of the seeds are showing colour change, including those that are developing spots
“If the field is highly variable, even though there is potentially some high yielding low spots, don’t put the majority of the crop at risk for it,” he said.
“If you have to cut the whole thing, go when you can get the most into the bin safely.”
It might not work to evaluate based on the main stem if the plants have a lot of branching. In that case, producers should swath when the seeds from the entire plant have achieved a 60 percent seed colour change.
Bessel said producers should watch for frost threats in the forecast.
Three days of average weather are needed to mature the swathed crop and protect it from frost damage.
Crops have the best chance of avoiding a grade loss if they are 50 to 60 percent changed, swathed ahead of a frost and allowed to dry down slowly.
Bessel said examining the outside of a plant is not a good way to measure maturity.
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