If your crop is looking healthy and strong with uniform maturity, you will likely have no problem deciding when to swath. However, if you have some variability in the staging of your stand due to hail damage, drowned out areas, dry areas, heat blasting, insect damage, disease or weed issues, it will make swath timing a more complicated decision…
Swath timing
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Swathing canola when temperatures are hot can cause two potential problems for the crop: 1. Rapid dry down due to hot conditions does not give the green-clearing enzymes enough time to reduce chlorophyll levels in the seed, and green counts can be elevated. 2. Very dry pods can shatter if swathed on a hot day…
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If late season hail damages pods, then these pods have a higher potential for shattering as they dry. Swathing early to save these pods may not be worthwhile if these pods represent only a small percentage of the yield potential of the crop…
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Research conducted by the Canola Council of Canada over approximately 28 site-years indicates that significant yield increases can be achieved by waiting until 50-60% seed colour change on the main stem before swathing. Swathing at 50-60% SCC resulted in 8% more yield than swathing at 30-40% SCC, 12% more yield than at 10-20% SCC, and 19% more yield than swathing…
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The optimal swath timing for canola yield and quality is when 60% of seeds on the main stem are showing some colour change. Seed colour change (SCC) is considered any amount of yellow or brown on the seed…
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