Canola Watch #19

September 1, 2010

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Issues of the week

Growers are anxious to swath late crops, but swathing before 50% to 60% seed colour change on the main stem cuts yield potential and could result in high green counts. We have tips this week on how to test for green counts without starting the combine and on setting the swather to cut lodged canola.

Crop and weather update

Peace (B.C. and Alberta): Most canola in the Peace region is swathed, but after a dry summer, rain now hampers harvest progress. Areas around Ft. Vermilion and La Crete got 2” to 4” in the past week. Cool temperatures have further slowed the drying process. Wind is blowing swaths around, especially since thin stands didn’t leave much stubble for anchoring.

Alberta: Rain ranged from half an inch to three quarters in the south, and about half an inch to an inch through the central region. Warm temperatures on a couple of days last week helped move canola along, but the south is still 5 days to 2 weeks from general swathing. Swathing is well underway in northwest parts of the central region, but is still 5 to 10 days away in south central and northeast regions. Read the Alberta crop report.

Saskatchewan: Swathing is progressing well across most of the province and combining has started in the southeast. June-seeded crops in the eastern rain belt are still a couple weeks from swathing. Rain has slowed progress in many areas, with 1” in the west and up to 4” around Yorkton and other eastern locales in the past week. Highway 16 and north received very little rain in the past week. Despite low expectations in some eastern pockets, many growers across the province are looking at very good yields. Read the Saskatchewan crop report.

Manitoba: A few hot days last week were good for progress. Most canola in the south is swathed, and combining is up to 50% complete in the central and east regions. Yields range from 15 to 60 bushels/acre, with lots in the 35 to 45 range. Quality is good, in general. The northwest is now 40% to 70% swathed, but rains Monday have slowed progress. Read the Manitoba crop report.

Quick hitters

Many growers are swathing canola too green, giving up yield and quality potential. At 50% to 60% seed colour change on the main stem, seed on side branches should be firm enough to mature. Any seeds that are translucent and mushy when swathed are not mature, which will reduce their contribution to yield and increase the amount of curing that must take place in the swath. For more on harvest timing, click here to read the CCC’s Canola Time of Swathing Guide and click here to hear Doug Moisey, CCC senior agronomy specialist, on ACPC radio.
 
All seeds firm, but not changing colour. We have reports again this week of whole plants maturing at the same time. In this case, all seeds are firm, from top to bottom of the plant, but colour change has not started. In the absence of significant frost risk in the forecast, growers should hold off on swathing and let the plant continue to fill these seeds, increasing yield. As long as the pods are pliable, there is no immediate risk of shattering.
 
Wondering when to swath canola with sclerotinia, hail or frost damage? Click here to read the Canola Council of Canada news release from this week.

Cut stems sprout new leaves. With rain in the Peace after a long dry season, growers in the Wanham-Rycroft-Spirit River area are noticing regrowth in swathed canola. When drought-stressed canola finally gets some moisture, stubble can start growing new leaves. If harvest is delayed too long, this regrowth can entangle in the swath. The combine pickup rips off new leaves, and bits of shredded leaves can end up in the hopper — creating start points for heating. Spraying is not an option because residues will end up on the seed. The best action is to combine as soon as this canola is ready and weather conditions allow. Set the pickup as high as possible. And if green leaves are in the sample, aerate the bins and monitor stored canola closely all winter.

Fertilizer levels could be very low in fields too wet to seed. Soil tests are advised. Fertility reserves will have been reduced due to moisture-related losses, and while nutrients bound up in weeds and volunteers will remain in the fields, they may not be immediately available to next year’s crop.

How to set a swather for a lodged crop

We have lots of lodged canola this year, including some crops so flat you can walk on them. The challenge is how to swath these crops to make combining as fast and easy as possible. Here’s how to set the swather for better results:

  • Extend reel arms so the reel is out front of the cutterbar. That way the reel picks up the crop before the cutterbar hits the stem, providing a cleaner cut and putting more of the crop in the windrow. This is particularly useful when swathing canola that’s leaning away from the cutterbar.
     
  • Angle the reel teeth so they cup slightly, which improves the lifting action.
     
  • Tilt the table forward. This steeper pitch helps improve the windrow shape as plants roll off the draper.
     
  • Make the swath opening as wide as possible to accommodate bushier canola swaths.
     
  • Adjust end dividers to work properly in canola. Traveling up the field at a different angle can help reduce bunching and plugging at the dividers, but the best solution is to invest in a power divider that mechanically cuts the crop.
      
  • Experiment with faster draper speeds. The key with lodged crop, which tends to be messier when it hits the draper, is to clear the table as fast as possible to limit bunch ups.
     
  • Swather Controls. Modern swathers have many of these controls on the joystick. (See the photo.) Talk to the dealership if you have questions about settings specific to your model.
     
  • Prepare for the occasional mound — “beaver house” — of bunched canola in the windrow. Straighten these out with a pitchfork the day you swath so the canola cures more evenly and you don’t have to go back another day to prep the field for combining.

Brush up on green seed counting

With uneven maturity and later canola crops, this will be another year to watch green counts.

Here are some tips to follow when testing for green seed:

  • Rather than start up the combine to take a sample, insert a scoop shovel underneath the swath and use your hands to thresh pods near ground level into the shovel. These plants will have cured more slowly and if any plants have higher green counts, it will be these ones.
     
  • Collect the seeds, put them into 100- or 500-count test strips and roll them out.
     
  • Do a few strips and come up with an average. Five green seeds out of 500 represents 1% green.
     
  • Repeat this a few times through the field, making sure to check hillsides and flats rather than hill tops and field edges, which tend to be thinner and more advanced.

After a light frost, wait a day then assess

Growers often wonder whether to swath right away after a light frost of minus 1°C or minus 2°C for a couple hours. Before doing anything, wait a day or two then assess frost damage.

  • Light damage may cause some seeds to turn “shoe polish” brown, but pods and most seeds generally remain intact and turgid. (The photo below shows light frost damage.) With light damage in portions or throughout the field, leave the crop and swath at the proper stage based on seed colour change of the healthy seed. Swathing immediately after a light frost may result in higher economic and yield losses than if the crop were left alone.
     
  • With moderate damage, pods will have white speckling on the outside and some seeds will turn brown and shrivel. However, pods remain reasonably intact and pliable and some seed remains green and turgid. Swath fields with light to moderate damage at 50% to 60% seed colour change, giving healthy seed time to reach optimum yield and quality. Damaged seed will shrivel and blow out of the combine with the chaff or end up as dockage. The key with moderate frost damage is to monitor the crop more closely than with other frost damage. If pods desiccate, they are prone to shattering, so consider swathing the whole field or just the affected areas if shattering losses could exceed gains from leaving the crop an extra day or two.

For more tips on what to do after frost, including tips for severe frost, click here to download the Canola Council of Canada factsheet, “Early fall frost. Now what?”

Questions and contacts

If you have general questions about Canola Watch, direct them to Jay Whetter, whetterj@canolacouncil.org or 807-468-4006.

If you have questions on regional issues, contact one of the following Canola Council of Canada regional agronomist or provincial oilseed specialists:

Doug Moisey, senior agronomy specialist, North East and East Central Alberta,
moiseyd@canolacouncil.org, 780-645-9205

Erin Brock, agronomy specialist, Peace Region,
brocke@canolacouncil.org, 780-568-3326

Troy Prosofsky, agronomy specialist, Southern Alberta,
prosofskyt@canolacouncil.org, 403-332-1412

Murray Hartman, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development,
murray.hartman@gov.ab.ca, 403-782-8024


Derwyn Hammond, senior agronomy specialist, Manitoba,
hammondd@canolacouncil.org, 204-729-9011

Jim Bessel, senior agronomy specialist, Central Saskatchewan,
besselj@canolacouncil.org, 306-373-6771

Tiffany Martinka, agronomy specialist, Eastern Saskatchewan,
martinkat@canolacouncil.org, 306-231-3663

Clint Jurke, agronomy specialist, Western Saskatchewan,
jurkec@canolacouncil.org, 306-821-2935

Kerry Clark, B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands,
Kerry.Clark@gov.bc.ca, 250-784-2559

Venkata Vakulabharanam, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture,
Venkata.Vakulabharanam@gov.sk.ca, (306)787-4668

Ingrid Kristjanson, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, ingrid.kristjanson@gov.mb.ca, 204-746-7504

This report is supported by each of the provincial canola grower associations.