Tips for Ideal Canola Swath Timing & Common Pitfalls of Judging Maturity

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Canola unloadDeciding when to start swathing canola can be one of the most difficult calls you make at harvest. Too early, and you give up yield potential, too late and you can risk big losses. Knowing your hybrids, recognizing ideal swath-timing colour change and verifying actual seed colour, not pod colour, change will all go a long way in right-timing cutting canola.

Related: Swathing too early costs big bushesl, says Chris Holzapfel, IHARF

In this video filmed at the recent Momentum Tour, hosted by Monsanto Canada, Ron Rabe demonstrates how to first find the main stem of canola, how to gauge 60% seed colour change and how many bushels you may leave behind if you swath too early. Rabe also explains how certain conditions can trick growers into thinking their canola is further ahead than it is, and how using multiple hybrids on the farm can be an excellent harvest management tool.

Want more canola production information? Follow this link to RealAgriculture’s Canola School.

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