UK Grassfarmer Turmoil/weather

[malleefarmer]

Bit of a shambles at the moment.

Been watching a bit of sky news UK etc and taking a bit of notice in our papers with articles from UK.

Seems they can actually stand alone and do it well and wean themselves off the EU.

But its a democracy what ever people want will prevail eventually i guess wether it right or wrong in long term.

The more you read about johnson hes actually no fool despite what he may portray at times it seems.

Scary thing is the alternative party.

Anyway enough politics.

We had a game changing 7mm of rain today after about 5mm over 3 fall in last week you guys will smirk at that makes a big difference in low rainfall zones when temps are warming up. Some place in my state almost to point of no return .

Opposite issues to you guys do you ever get to point of no return with grain in swaths just to wet for to long and good for eff all? Genuine question not smart arse one.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Opposite issues to you guys do you ever get to point of no return with grain in swaths just to wet for to long and good for eff all? Genuine question not smart arse one.

That was the case with hay in swaths this year( and many years in the past).

I refuse to put any kind of grain in a swath for that very reason.

[Guest]

Yes , especially barley
Have blown in back in field with a forage harvester before
Drum pickup with steel fingers would pick it up , belt pickup would not , growing right to ground, was in a place where burning it wasnt an option

[Marusko]

Opposite issues to you guys do you ever get to point of no return with grain in swaths just to wet for to long and good for eff all? Genuine question not smart arse one.

If it rains in the fall, the grain can sprout in the swath. Then all you've got is feed grade. Though I've seen wheat sprout in the head while still standing as well. Some varieties are more susceptible than others.

But our risk, our 'point of no return' is the arrival of winter, and snow. To expand on your question. Where I am in north-central Alberta, September is 'prime' harvesting month; lots gets done in October too but they are shorter, cooler days. October is typically your last month to get any harvesting done, the days and nights of grinding away at canola and whatever is left of the rest.

In 2016 September was nice enough, we got peas, barley, and wheat off, then in October when we the canola was ready, it started raining. Rained most of the month. By the end of October the top of the swaths dried out a bit but the bottom was soaking wet still, but we had to get it in the bin so we combined that way and it was rough going. Tailings constantly plugging, so much that some guys reportedly just left the tailings door open and left a trail of grain and mush on the ground. Sieves would get gummed up so we had to clean it out or blow it out with an air compressor every couple rounds. We were combining canola that was so tough that it barely flowed out of trucks, sometimes it didn't and a guy had to get in there and shovel.

Partway through that, the weather turned cold but no snow yet, and it turns out that wet canola combines better when it's frozen because it doesn't gum everything up. If you have wet swaths, though, you don't want to wait on that because you might get a dump of snow that stops you from combining, before you get a cold spell that freezes the swaths to help you combine.

We didn't have any straight cut canola but some guys did and I hear that worked nicely, it was lodged pretty hard but dried out better than canola in the swath.

Many farms in 2016 finished their harvest in spring 2017.

To sum it up for ya mallee, once you get past the end of September (or even mid-September) you can't count on getting drying weather so as long as you have a grain dryer and can put it through the combine, you harvest.