Everything done to produce a high-quality canola crop can be undone at harvest and in storage. One Canola Council of Canada (CCC) agronomy priority is to deliver every seed at No. 1 grade. That means giving all seeds time to mature, harvesting with minimal losses and storing canola without spoilage.
For maximum yield, canola should be cut at 60 per cent seed colour change on the main stem — or later. This gives seeds on side branches time to firm up and contribute to yield. Based on a survey of canola growers at the end of 2020, about half of swathed canola acres are swathed too early for maximum yield.
When combining starts, CCC agronomy specialists recommend drop pans to measure losses and a little extra time to adjust combine settings to keep losses to one per cent, or less.
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And, finally, to limit storage losses, check bins regularly — even if canola seems to be at low risk for spoilage.
Here are three questions on the harvest and storage theme. Answers are provided at the end of the article.
Question 1. When combining a thin canola crop, losses out of the back of the combine can increase if settings are not adjusted. Which of the following is one adjustment to consider if crop volume is less than usual?
A. Open up the concave spacing
B. Reduce ground speed
C. Reduce fan speed
D. Set the sieves to almost closed
Question 2. The Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) recently studied canola storage in large 25,000-bushel bins. Which of the following was an important discovery from this study?
A. Storage risk with large bins is reduced with a gravity-driven spreader to level the grain peak.
B. Safe storage recommendations developed 20 to 30 years ago do not apply to large bins.
C. To keep canola safe in storage, it should not be kept in bins larger than 5,000 bushels.
D. Typical fans may not provide the required airflow when large bins are filled to the top.
Question 3. The following four factors can all increase the spoilage risk for canola in storage. Which one was particularly noteworthy for Harvest 2021?
A. Green dockage
B. Hot canola
C. High-moisture canola
D. Weed seeds
Combine settings
A thin crop reduces “grain on grain threshing,” which is an important part of efficient combining. Increased ground speed and narrower concave spacing could increase grain on grain threshing. With less material going through the separator combine, a lower fan speed should reduce the number of seeds blowing out of the back. Before making any adjustments, measure losses out of the back of the combine. Then go through these changes one at a time to see what works to reduce those losses.
The Harvest chapter at canolaencyclopedia.ca has details on how to measure combine losses, and the Combine Optimization Tool at canolacalculator.ca will walk you through appropriate settings for canola.
When it comes to storage, the first goal is to move air through the bin to cool grain and remove any moisture “sweating” from the seeds. This requires airflow. For more about the PAMI study on airflow in large bins, about storage risk factors, like green dockage from canola regrowth, and many other storage tips, please check the Storage chapter at canolaencyclopedia.ca.
Finally, please visit canolawatch.org and sign up to receive Canola Watch email updates.
Quiz answers: 1 (C), 2 (D), 3 (A)
