A New Holland Speedrower 260 Plus windrower unit, outfitted with Honey Bee’s WSC30 header. (Media.CNHIndustrial.com)

CNH enlists Sask. manufacturer for new windrower draper heads

Honey Bee to partner on new small-grain swathing combos

A new manufacturing partnership will see New Holland’s Speedrower Plus and Case IH’s WD5 windrower lines put to work swathing small grains and canola — and put made-in-Saskatchewan faces forward as they do. Case IH and New Holland’s parent firm CNH and Honey Bee Manufacturing say they’ve set up a partnership agreement for compatibility between […] Read more


Photo: getty images

There’s still a place for swathing in canola operations

If you didn’t plant a shatter-tolerant variety, you’re going to have to swath. But swathing can play a crucial role in other cases as well

Straight cutting is no longer merely an option for harvesting canola — it’s become “the” harvest option. In many cases, the one-pass alternative has replaced swathing completely. “The decision to straight cut canola has been increasingly made for farmers in the past eight years,” says Dane Froese, oilseed specialist with Manitoba Agriculture. “The advent of […] Read more

There were many unhealthy-looking plants with blackened stems that had developed cankers near the soil surface. The plants were also suffering from premature stalk drydown.

Crop advisor casebook: Canola shelling out while swathing

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the January 5, 2020 issue of Grainews

Jeff is a farmer located near Brandon, Man., who grows canola, wheat and soybeans. He was out swathing a canola field in early September when he decided he should give me a call. The crop, which was at 70 per cent seed colour change, appeared to be shelling out while it was being cut and […] Read more


Kuhn introduces the MM 890 Merge Maxx

Kuhn introduces the MM 890 Merge Maxx

Hay merger combines swaths for up to 30 feet of effective cutting width

In September, implement equipment manufacturer Kuhn introduced the MM 890 Merge Maxx hay merger. It allows producers to combine swaths and effectively bale or ensile the equivalent of a 30-foot cut all at once. Kuhn claims it’s the widest hay merger in the industry and can move hay left, right or in a 50-50 split. […] Read more

Harvest starts to hit the bin, progress on par with five-year-average

Harvest starts to hit the bin, progress on par with five-year-average

Saskatchewan Crop Report for the week ending August 15

Saskatchewan producers have three per cent of the 2016 crop in the bin, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly Crop Report. Seven per cent of the provincial crop is swathed or ready to straight-cut. Harvest progress is on par with the five-year average (2011-2015). The break in rain showers toward the end of the week allowed […] Read more


ripe canola at sunset, Glen Nicoll

Canola: Straight cut versus swathed

New shatter-resistant canola varieties have a straight cutting edge

After 20 years of straight cutting canola on his central Alberta farm Wilson Lovell doesn’t even own a swather anymore, although he admits waiting for the crop to ripen is hard on his finger nails. He’s evaluated the two harvest options closely, and Lovell is convinced there is risk of a 10 to 30 per […] Read more

Photo: File

Five reasons to hold off on swathing canola

When exactly is the right time to cut that swath? Here are the reasons to wait

According to Angela Brackenreed, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, there’s been a real shift in the industry when it comes to canola swath timing. “I think there’s a much better understanding of the economics and yield benefit of waiting to swath,” she says. “My impression is that the early swathing that happens is done […] Read more


Western Prairies see low yields as harvest ramps up

CNS Canada –– This summer’s erratic weather has taken its toll on plant development in Alberta and parts of western Saskatchewan, according to crop-watchers in those areas. “We have heard that dry conditions have caused plants (peas) to slough off or have the tillers dry off and have lost those heads,” said Barry Yaremcio at […] Read more

Uneven ripening was occurring throughout the field. Jim wasn’t sure when to swath.

Crop Advisor’s Casebook: Uneven canola ripening

A Crop Advisor's Solution provided from Grainews' June 10, 2014 issue

It was mid-August when I got a call from Jim, a grain and cattle producer near Warner, Alta. Jim, who rotates cereal, oilseeds and pulse crops on his 3,000 acres of farmland, was having trouble with his canola crop. Swathing in canola needs to occur at the optimum stage of ripening in order to reduce […] Read more