b'Better Seed Genetics Push Straight Cutting Canola Trend ForwardAs canola seed continues to innovate, so does canola farming.Ashley RobinsonWITH POD SHATTERtraits in canola and farmers lookingfield allows you to save that precious time and those operating to save time and money, straight cutting canola has becomeexpenses as well, Welch says.more popular. The trend towards larger farmers has also helped push the For decades, farmers would head out to their canola fieldsstraight cutting trend forward. With farmers having more land twice at harvestonce to swath the crop and later to harvestto harvest themselves, saving time by cutting out swathing can it. About 15 years ago that changed as improved seed geneticsmake a huge difference, both Welch and Senko say.allowed farmers to start ditching the swather and straight cutLots of farmers though are still swathing, while also adding their canola at harvest instead. the option of straight cutting their canola. Farmers are making Over the past number of years companies have worked tothe choice on whether to straight cut or swath based on the year play with the genetics of the canola crop to get that strongerand field situation.pod integrity so that it shells out at the time that you want it toTheres a learning curve of course to go from swathing all rather than all over the field, says Courtney Welch, Canterrayour canola to straight cutting all your canola. So, Id say prob-Seeds canola product manager, on the Aug. 10 episode ofably typically a farm will do both to allow some for some flexibil-Seed Speaks. ity and not completely sell this swather but park it maybe so that Theres a sliding scale of one to nine for how durable canolathey have that flexibility when the harvest time comes around in varieties are when it comes to harvest, Welch explains. One isthe fall, Welch adds.SWwhere the canola pod will shatter easily, thus requiring swath-ing, while nine is where the pod has strong integrity and doesnt shatter easily. She adds most companies are aiming for a six and up rating on pod shatter when it comes to canola genetics.However, it isnt just pod shatter which affects the choice to straight cut or swath. The crop stand also plays into the decision, Shawn Senko, Canola Council of Canada agronomist and harvest management lead, explains in the episode.When its a thinner stand, you usually say with straight cut the ideal situation is a thick, large crop that kind of moves all at once in the wind. So, when youve got a thinner crop, its not really conducive to straight cutting, he adds.Senko has also seen farmers make decisions to straight cut canola based on if the crop is it hit with frost. If a heavy frost comes through and the canola pods start to pop, then the farmer will need to swath the crop before harvesting in order to protect the yield.The choice to straight cut canola over swathing isnt just agronomic though, its also a business management choice. Some farmers have switched to straight cutting to save on time spent in the field and reduce the amount of farm implements theyre paying to upkeep in the farmyard.Time and money are huge considerations when making that switch to straight cut versus swapping. One pass through the 54/ SEEDWORLD.COMJANUARY 2023'