Home / Canola Watch / Harvest and Storage / Green canola
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Answers for: What causes high green? Why is green seed a problem for processors? Why does green increase storage risk? And more…
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The Canadian Grain Commission has a colour guide for elevator graders to follow. Distinctly green is a dark green throughout the whole seed. Light green or greenish yellow seeds – sometimes called ‘limes’ – are not distinctly green and are not included in the green total…
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Most green seed issues result when heavy frost hits canola before the seeds mature. This permanently stops the chlorophyll-clearing process and locks in green. Nothing can be done to reduce this green. Drying can shrivel up green immature seeds, which might seem to have a benefit, but it does not reduce the green in mature seed. With high-green canola, farmers…
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Canola that still has a lot of green seed might not de-green that much further. Green may have been locked in by frost and if more de-greening was possible, it probably should have happened already with the moisture over the past two weeks. When good harvest opportunities arise, the best bet at this stage of the season is probably to…
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Some researchers found that long-term storage may decrease green seed count slightly, but farmers should not count on a significant improvement in storage – especially if seeds are very dry…
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Late harvested canola fields that were at various stages of growth when swathed may have high levels of green seed. If that is your situation, here are two articles that may be helpful…
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Step one is to know the green count. When shopping around for buyers, make sure your sample represents the canola you’ll deliver. Loads have been rejected because the canola delivered didn’t meet the specifications indicated in the original sample. The Canadian Grain Commission has tips on how to take a representative grain sample…
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In August and September, growers may want to let canola cure longer hoping for the warm and moist conditions required to clear green from their canola seed. By October, getting the crop off becomes the priority. Green seed is unlikely to turn anymore unless a lot of moisture (snow?) comes, in which case harvest may be delayed until spring. When…
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Green seed will be a downgrade factor on some fields this year. Those at highest risk tend to be later crops that still had a lot of immature seeds when cold frosts hit two weeks ago. Green that results from a killing frost is locked in, and will not clear no matter how long it cures. Rapid drydown due to…