West Central Alberta Coldest, wettest edge | With a short growing season, one theory is that you can buy a few more days by swathing before a big frost and allowing it to finish ripening in the swath. I was always told we couldn't straight combine around here, for various reasons, this is my third year, and it is working much better than swathing. "Here", crop in a swath, with any rain or snow, almost never dries again, standing it dries within hours.
Most Canola is still swathed, this gives a good summary:
The advantages of swathing canola are:
earlier harvest (eight to 10 days) and more even seed maturity - this is particularly important in fields where maturity is uneven
earlier harvest to avoid fall frost and accelerate dry down, especially in short season areas
earlier harvest to allow for double cropping or fall seeding
more flexibility with a large acreage since the timing of harvest is not as critical
reduced shatter losses during the harvest operation - especially in crops infected with Alternaria
swathing can be run around the clock (unlike direct combining) to assist with the harvesting of large acreages
cutting weeds allows a cleaner and drier sample that will reduce the risk of heating in storage and reduce the number of weed seeds that reach maturity
From this link:
http://canolacouncil.org/crop-production/canola-grower's-manual-con... |
western canada
