One thing this wet spring has taught most of the western Canadian farmers is that maybe canola growers are leaving way too much canola in the field to grow as volunteer the next crop year. Canola volunteers have been very prevalent in the field and one of the ways that this can be minimized is through learning to set our combines more accurately. Many farmers were taught how to set a combine by their parents and not by an actual professional.
Combine setting is an art and not just something that is standardized. The Canola Council of Canada is hosting a Combine clinic next week in Vegreville. The purpose of this initiative is to try and educate farmers on how to better set your combine to make sure that more seed ends up in your bin instead of the ground. Denise Maurice, VP Crop Production, Canola Council of Canada brings up the point that that the attitude towards combine setting has changed. At one time the industry focused on trying to minimize seeds left in the field to better manage volunteers. Now the industry is beginning to focus on the need to raise yields and economic returns back to the farmer. Just think if you left 5 bushels in the field, that could be $50 per acre left on the table. That is a lot of money for any canola grower.
As mentioned above this weeks episode of the Canola School focuses on why farmers need to focus on improving their combine setting techniques to raise the yields and ultimately increase the return of investment back to the farmer.
See more Canola School episodes
If you are interested in pre-registering for the Canola Council’s Combine Clinic in Vegreville next week, Click here
If you cannot see the below embedded video with Denise Maurice, Click here