To straight cut or swath? For many canola growers, it was never a question.

With concerns about shattering and pod drop, most farmers didn’t think about straight cutting the crop, but with new advances in genetics and farm strategies, more growers than ever before are hitting the fields at harvest time without a pickup header.

“Down here, hardly anybody owns a swather,” said Jennifer Bingham, PAg and lead agrologist at Pioneer Co-op in Swift Current, Sask., a non-traditional canola-growing region where farmers were straight cutting long before the advent of shatter-tolerant varieties with more robust pods.

“Of course in the last two years, straight cutting has become really big.”

The trend continues

According to BASF, 34 percent of farmers straight cut some of their canola in 2015. Amongst those growing shatter-tolerant hybrids, that total grows dramatically. Bayer reports that more than 70 percent of InVigor L140P acres were straight cut last year.

By incorporating straight cutting into their harvest management plan, growers cut down on field work, saving both time and money. With the crop standing longer, growers may also see:

• increased yields and oil content
• decreased green seed counts

At Pioneer Co-op, Bingham said more than half of the canola seed sold this spring were shatter-tolerant hybrids.

“It’s a really big, uniform seed,” said Bingham. “There’s no shrivelling and they have all the time they need to fill to the proper size.”

Not all fields are equal

Growers should start small and stick to fields that are best suited for straight cutting. The Canola Council of Canada (CCC) suggests growers assess crops based on four factors: canopy, disease, hail and frost risk. A well-knit, disease-free field is a good candidate for straight cutting, while those with more variability will deliver worse results.

• MORE: Field evaluation

“If the whole field moves as a unit, rather than single plants, then you’re going to have less wind damage,” said Bingham. “If it’s a single plant whipping against other plants, it’ll shatter.”

Timing is critical

For the best results, the CCC recommends growers direct combine once the seed falls below two percent green count and is dry enough to store. If growers wait too long, the risk of yield loss to shattering and pod drop rises.

There are many other factors for growers to consider before straight cutting canola, including adjustments to equipment and pre-harvest products — like Heat® LQ and Vector® brand herbicides  — that help you clean up and dry down weeds.

As you prepare for harvest, be sure to visit your local AG Team agronomist, who can help you develop an effective strategy for your farm.

“It used to be growers were choosing hybrids based on if they thought they might be able to straight cut,” said Bingham. “Now that we have shatter-tolerant hybrids, it’s a whole different ball game.”