A return to OSR swathing

[ajd132]

We have a decent crop of rape this year, the first time we have grown it in 5 years. We always used to spray it off but often took ages and I hated the job. I always want to minimise our use of glyphosate.
I don’t really know anything about swathing, what are the pros and cons of it? How do you know when to do it? What would one expect it to cost? Does it speed Everything up?

 

[SilliamWhale]

I think you lose seeds but gain a cover crop

 

[ajd132]

I think you lose seeds but gain a cover crop

I was planning on planting a cheap catch crop aswell.

 

[Will7]

The main problem is most swathers are circa 16ft and I guess your lexion is 40ft. Picking swaths up on the wrong direction is a pain as they don’t flow as well and you don’t want a swather cutting in lands due to the damage on the headlands. One option would be GCS from Horncastle. He bought a big American swather on the assumption glyphosate was to be banned last time. He starts swathing near Paris and works his way up to Scotland he said.... From memory it is 35ft wide

 

[Two Tone]

Cut it about or slightly before you would spray it. It needs to look the colour of a hare’s back.
Usually, you need to leave it 2 weeks, but keep an eye on it if the weather is hot and dry - could go in a week!

You need to harvest it in the opposite direction to the way it was swathed, ideally straight in front of the middle of the auger.

It will harvest much faster than cutting it standing.

You could use Podstick quite early (before cutting) to reduce shatter.


In a dry year, I have often not bothered cutting or spraying Roundup. It’ll take a few days longer before it will combine and the crop must be clean, particularly of thistles.

 

[Lincsman]

Do nothing, it will ripen with a higher oil content.

 

[ajd132]

Do nothing, it will ripen with a higher oil content.

This would be the ideal but need to get stuff cleared. The bonus of a higher oil content does not outweigh getting a week behind with harvest

 

[teslacoils]

Pros are it's dead and it is ready quicker.

Cons are it dries slower if the swaths get wet. Pigeons love to land on the swaths. Delayed harvest can be pretty manky. Needs an even crop with few weeds.

It would be my least preferred option, unless the ban roundup.

 

[Adeptandy]

Direct combine with no glypho when I get a crop, never seen the advantage of spraying it off, its normally ready before the spray has worked.

 

[KennyO]

Still a bit swathed up here. I like it cause it ripens quicker. Glyphosate can take a month up here.

We still lift single 18' swaths with a draper header. Some will lift two swaths with wide headers with osr extension in/ vario pushed out.

Think the swather driver cuts round tramlines to get swaths in pairs. A good driver should not tramp any more swaths.

 

[Brisel]

Cut it about or slightly before you would spray it. It needs to look the colour of a hare’s back.
Usually, you need to leave it 2 weeks, but keep an eye on it if the weather is hot and dry - could go in a week!

You need to harvest it in the opposite direction to the way it was swathed, ideally straight in front of the middle of the auger.

It will harvest much faster than cutting it standing.

You could use Podstick quite early (before cutting) to reduce shatter.


In a dry year, I have often not bothered cutting or spraying Roundup. It’ll take a few days longer before it will combine and the crop must be clean, particularly of thistles.

This.

I'd cut it a little bit later than that but it's a fine line when it is turning so fast & you're reliant on a contractor. I've combined it 5 days after swathing in 2005 when the daytime temperatures were in the mid 30s and those desiccating were waiting weeks for it to die due to the crop being under stress & not taking the glyphosate in well. We were finished and had got the ground cultivated before most of our neighbours had started cutting. It suited our crappy 22' Droningbourg headers on Axial Flow combines. You could get a 16' swath in at about 7 kph but much faster than that & you risked blocking the main rotor. Better to take it steady. We swapped the Axial Flows in for a Lexion 480 with Vario header & swathed a bit as a comparison but taking in 2 swaths was much much slower as the auger hated the big swaths. Better to be as close to the centre as possible. We continued swathing sugar beet seed but they used to cut up & down so you were taking in 2 swaths in alternating direction which wasn't as bad as it sounds but still tedious.

Swathing osr is good if you don't get a big rain storm or wind that pushes the swaths down to the ground. Sitting on top of a tall stubble helps it dry out and a normal header will do a topping job on the stubble for you. Pod shatter is a risk unless you go through with podstick which seems partially counter intuitive to me but if you've already got a high clearance sprayer then fair enough.

Cutting direct does get you more yield, especially when you've had a long flowering period and uneven ripening but you're delaying cutting by over a week and you'll be around 2 kph slower with more green material slowing throughput. Fine where you've got lots of combine capacity but not if you've got early maturing milling wheats that need to be gathered in. I've always desiccated as I have early wheat & turnips to get in afterwards, no winter barley and like to get a bit of a head start to iron out teething troubles with the combine. I've got farm saved seed to harvest this year so I'll desiccate the headlands and leave the middle to ripen naturally for seed.

@ajd132 This will only fit your CTF if you can find a 40' swather with a centre discharge, though soils ought to be pretty dry then.

 

[KennyO]

Gets worrying in wet. We harvested some at 20% as more rain forecast this harvest.

 

[AT Aloss]

We have a decent crop of rape this year, the first time we have grown it in 5 years. We always used to spray it off but often took ages and I hated the job. I always want to minimise our use of glyphosate.
I don’t really know anything about swathing, what are the pros and cons of it? How do you know when to do it? What would one expect it to cost? Does it speed Everything up?

Adam, Ian Houlgrave at Alford has got a couple of 18ft swathers for sale if you've got someone else who'll go in with you on it? Cheers, Paul

All used agricultural equipment and machinery from Ian Houlgrave, Alford

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www.mascus.co.uk

 

[fudge]

We have a decent crop of rape this year, the first time we have grown it in 5 years. We always used to spray it off but often took ages and I hated the job. I always want to minimise our use of glyphosate.
I don’t really know anything about swathing, what are the pros and cons of it? How do you know when to do it? What would one expect it to cost? Does it speed Everything up?

The real disadvantage of swathing is cost. Others say picking 2 swaths with a wide header is feasible, but ime year in year out a draper header works better, why would you want to buy one of those?
The other thing is that swaths don’t dry well in a wet harvest. On our marsh soils this is a big disadvantage. Neighbours of mine, who are good farmers, have had to abandon swathed rape crops in a “wet time”. Conversely direct cutting worked well for us on those occasions.

 

[Clive]

You can make a 18 or 20ft swather work with 40ft head by swathing in lands laying x2 swaths the same way next to each other and then take 2 swaths up 12m at a time

have done it in the past but prefer to wait and direct cut now - swathing can go VERY wrong if weather turns bad

 

[fudge]

We have a decent crop of rape this year, the first time we have grown it in 5 years. We always used to spray it off but often took ages and I hated the job. I always want to minimise our use of glyphosate.
I don’t really know anything about swathing, what are the pros and cons of it? How do you know when to do it? What would one expect it to cost? Does it speed Everything up?

The real disadvantage of swathing is cost. Others say picking 2 swaths with a wide header is feasible, but ime year in year out a draper header works better, why would you want to buy one of those?
The other thing is that swaths don’t dry well in a wet harvest. On our marsh soils this is a big disadvantage. Neighbours of mine, who are good farmers, have had to abandon swathed rape crops in a “wet time”. Conversely direct cutting worked well for us on those occasions.

 

[AF Salers]

Another disadvantage if using a contractor is that It was a swather that brought BG onto our farm, despite it being blown off.

 

[ajd132]

Thanks for all the replies.
We have a new combine coming which is fitted with one of the new class convio flex belt headers, maybe I just direct cut with this?

 

[ajd132]

Thanks for all the replies.
We have a new combine coming which is fitted with one of the new class convio flex belt headers, maybe I just direct cut with this?

 

[Brisel]

Thanks for all the replies.
We have a new combine coming which is fitted with one of the new class convio flex belt headers, maybe I just direct cut with this?

You'll need the auger for the back of the header or tall crops like osr won't flow - the just bridge up above the belt. Normal headers have the auger & retractable fingers. That said, with your system you can leave a long stubble and just cut the pods off which will lessen that problem.