Harvesting
Harvest occurs
when the crop is mature. This is measured by many different factors, such as the
weather, or, depending on the crop, it may be its colour. A farmer may also do a
moisture test, by pinching or creasing the crop to tell if it is ready for
harvest. Knowing when to harvest a crop is a science in itself. Harvesting is
usually a two-stage process. First the farmer swaths and then he or she
combines. Sometimes, though, swathing and combining are done in one operation by
straight combining, depending on the crop and the weather. Once the farmer knows
when to harvest, he or she must make a decision about how the crop will be
harvested.
Harvest begins
with the cutting of a standing crop. Straight combining is usually the preferred
harvest method in most of the world. Warm weather during the summer harvest
season means that swathing could increase the risk of crop loss in most of these
regions. Harvest in western Canada, however, takes place in the fall when
temperatures are cooler, and the days are shorter. There is usually a rush to
get the crop under cover and swathing offers the opportunity to speed up
harvest. It is in a large part because of this that swathing has been widely
adopted by cereal growers.
One harvesting
method recommends
that harvest take place when approximately 25 percent of the canola seeds are turning brown, even though the
pods are still green. This is because canola pods shatter if left too long
resulting in crop losses. Certain crops, such as lentils, peas and flax, can be
subjected to chemical desiccation at about 75 percent maturity. The application
of chemicals stops crop and weed growth, which results in more uniform
drying from the tops to the bottoms of plants, throughout an entire field. The crop may
then be harvested.
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