Issues of the week

Turn on the aeration fans and leave them on. A lot of canola went into bins hot, and one crusher has already received some 2011 canola with 18% heated seed. With hot weather forecast again this week for some areas, conditioning canola is a top priority.

Wait a few hours after a frost before making the swath decision. If pods are translucent 4-6 hours after the frost ends, they may start to pop open within 24 hours. In that case, the field should probably be swathed to limit yield losses. If pods have white spots but are otherwise OK, the frost was light and the crop could be left standing to continue maturing. Read more.

High green is an issue for some canola fields. If the crop is still curing, leave it and see if green seed counts drop. If the crop is dry and green is still high enough to cause downgrading, the crop will need a few days of moisture to restart the green clearing enzymes. If you don’t expect a lot of moisture or you don’t like the idea of waiting for several days of rainy weather, you may just want to get it in the bin.

This is our last weekly Canola Watch for 2011. We are going back to once a month for the fall and winter, with timely alerts as required.