Not many years ago, the vast majority of canola crops were swathed ahead of combining. With pod shatter resistance becoming common in canola varieties, straight cutting has gained popularity.

Shawn Senko, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada out of Saskatoon, says there has been an uptick in adopting straight cutting over the last 5 years.

Senko noted 66 percent of producers straight cut some canola and 32 percent of farmers straight all of their canola crop.

In the often-dry brown soil zone of southwestern Saskatchewan, swathing canola is rare, but some producers in other regions still prefer to swath.

Senko says more and more companies continue to improve on pod shatter resistance in canola varieties giving producers the option of straight cutting or swathing.

Senko says the use of pre-harvest products for crop dry down varies from year to year and from area to area.

He spoke with Kevin Hursh of SaskAgToday.com, and you can hear the interview in the “unfiltered” section.