Plan To Reduce Wheat Quality Risk With Positive Harvest Management

Cambridge (July, 2003) - Milling wheat growers across the UK can markedly reduce the risk to grain quality this season by positively managing their harvest, advises Allied Grain Fishers' technical specialist, Jim Carswell. But they simply must plan harvest management into their programme rather than introducing it as a last-minute weather defence.

Jim who runs the company's extensive crops research programme across the Midlands and Northern England has been using pre-harvest glyphosate in his trials work for the past four years. So successful did the technique prove in initial testing that he now employs it as routine across all three replicated trial sites to allow reliable planning and management of harvest dates.

"Our replicated milling wheat trials in 1999/2000 showed several beneficial effects from pre-harvest Roundup," he explained. "These included higher Hagbergs, proteins and specific weights, together with lower screenings, admixtures and grain moisture contents. Moisture contents at harvest, in particular, were as much as 2.5% lower.

"Valuable as these direct comparative benefits may be, the real value we've found from harvest management is the ability to maximise harvesting opportunities within the changeable weather patterns often seen at harvest. We know that if we spray our wheat once it reaches 30% moisture it can ripen more consistently and evenly and be ready to combine 14-21 days later."

Not having to rely on the weather alone to get the crop down to 16-18% moisture for combining is, Jim Carswell has found, a huge advantage in optimising the timeliness and efficiency of harvesting. Indeed, in catchy weather like the beginning of August last year, it could easily be the difference between success and failure in meeting millers' HFN specifications, not to mention avoiding the knock-on effects of harvest delays.

"It's almost impossible to make-up lost time at harvest these days," he asserted. "There often just isn't the spare capacity in equipment or staffing. So harvesting delays can build-up more and more pressure on the system, and can compromise the quality of later harvested crops as well as seedbed preparation for the most timely autumn drilling of following crops.

"The more even ripening that harvest management can give may also result in faster combining while still minimising grain losses. Consistently lower moisture levels at harvest help reduce drying costs and the risk of mycotoxin-producing infections too. And, of course, pre-harvest spraying can give extremely valuable extra grass and broad-leaved weed control. This can be particularly important in situations where potato volunteers are present."

Jim Carswell has seen well-planned harvest management being taken up by increasing numbers of Allied Grain Fishers customers in the Midlands and North in recent years. He has no doubt that wheat producers across the country could find it every bit as valuable, especially for Group 1 and 2 growers keen to maximise quality premiums and wherever harvesting resources are stretched.

"Make sure you get it right, though," he advised. "It's not difficult. But you do need to plan it into your system, spray at the right time, and use the right rate of Roundup for the job - primarily on the basis of your weed control need. You should also monitor the treated crop regularly from a week after spraying and harvest it when it's ready. This is because the speed of action depends both on the formulation used and the weather conditions.

"Managing the harvest positively in this way can make sense whichever way you look at it."