21 Aug Jada: Cutting seed wheat and canola

Late yesterday afternoon, we were able to get in “a” field and cut some seed wheat for our farmer. The wheat was yielding 30 – 45 bu./ac., test weight was 59 and the protein 15.3. The one field is all we were able to cut because the wheat rest of the wheat we are to cut is just starting to turn.

A glimpse of what a lot of the wheat in the area looks like.

Cutting seed wheat in Regent, ND.

Cutting in Regent offers some new scenery.

A view of our field from up above.

Today we were able to get in the field and starting cutting canola. There are two ways you can cut canola with a straight header or a pickup header (if the canola is windrowed). We are cutting it with our draper (straight) headers.

Canola is a very delicate crop. Windy conditions are not good for the crop as you can loose seeds or the canola can “shell out” hence affecting the yield. The best way is to cut it is with a straight header because windrowing it can also shell out some of the seeds. However, there is more of a risk if the crop is left standing.

In the field we are cutting, some of the seeds have shelled out from wind but the canola is still doing good with a yield of 30 – 40 bu/ ac. We look forward to tomorrow as more of our team members are bringing another combine to Regent to join our harvesting efforts here.

Cutting canola just as the sun goes down. Nights are substationally colder here than what we are used in the more southern states we cut in. As a result, crops get tough almost as soon as the sun goes down.

Canola is a delicate crop that can easily shell out from wind and windrowing.