Research work done at the University of Manitoba shows roughly 6 percent of canola seed falls to the ground during harvest.

"On a 50 bushel an acre crop that works out to 3 bushels per acre. If you can do a better job of setting your combine, even if you can cut those losses in half it's a pretty significant amount of dollars with prices around 12 dollars a bushel," says Derwyn Hammond, agronomist with the Canola Council of Canada.

"With canola, because it's a small, light seed and you have a lot of chaff, it's the challenge of setting the sieves and the fan-speed," he says. "Also, with the increase in horsepower with our combines we can push through a lot of material, but the separating capacity really hasn't changed a whole lot. Much like with seeding, excessive speed can also lead to problems in terms of the amount of loss you're seeing."

The Canola Council is holding a combine clinic in conjunction with the Manitoba Canola Growers Association Annual Meeting at the Keystone Centre in Brandon on Tuesday. Concurrent sessions will feature Case, John Deere, Lexion, Massey and New Holland machines.

~ Monday, February 28, 2011 ~