swathing wheat

[olinfarms]

should I swath CPS wheat now, a week earlier than planned because of possible -3 to -5 degrees on the weekend or let it stand through the frost, if it materializes and swath wheat when more mature.

[biovision]

I hear mixed messages on this topic but the majority of producers that I have talked to are swathing the wheat because of perceived 'insulation' by the swath. The majority of the damage will be determined by maturity at the time of the frost whether or not it is swathed.

[mhartman]

Wheat can be swathed at early dough without affecting yield or quality in most cases. At the soft dough stage, the kernels will have little free moisture present when cut in two by your thumbnail. The kernel will have yellow color mixed with green. If your crop is swathed slightly greener than soft dough, you may see reduced test weight and grade due to green kernels. However, CPS wheat has higher tolerance than hard red spring, and often CPS goes into local feed markets. In that case, the grade loss from swathing early may not be important. As to your decision to swath before the frost, I would tend to leave the wheat stand as long as possible to mature. Then swath after hard frost does come -- your grade won't be significantly worse than if you had swathed it several days earlier. And if it doesn't freeze hard, then the crop will have a chance to mature more. Remember, swaths are not total frost protection -- the temperature in the upper half of the swath has been measured to be colder than head height in a standing canopy. Also if wet weather is forecast, leave it stand. Standing wheat will tolerate wet weather much better than in the swath -- the exception is snow.