One bushel, two bushels…how do you know for sure if you’re not measuring? Using drop pans while combining has made measuring harvest losses much easier. Sometimes the results may scare you, but this simple step can help save you bushels and get them in the bin.
Why Measure? #
Measuring for harvest losses is a crucial step for growers to make informed decisions and make alterations to their combine settings to help collect yield and minimize seed going back into the field.
“Measuring losses is a small step that can help farmers make sure all their crop ends up in the bin and not back out in the field,” said Justine Cornelsen, Agronomic & Regulatory Services Manager for BrettYoung. “It’s not just the seed saved at harvest, but the dollars saved in future crop years when trying to manage volunteer populations.”
Sometimes that little bit of seed going out of the back of the combine doesn’t look like much, but the dollars lost start to add up quickly. Different crops, varietal differences, and environmental conditions all call for different combine settings, so checking for losses several times while out combining is an important practice to adopt.
How to Measure? #
Measuring true losses needs to be done with a drop pan at the back of the combine, once the spreader has been disengaged. There are several different drop pan setups to collect a sample by. Once a sample is collected, clear away the straw and chaff so only seed remains.
Measure the seed in the pan, using weight or volume. Then calculate the seed weight/volume based on one square foot and determine the concentration factor for your combine (the ratio of header width and combine discharge width). Use these numbers to get losses in pounds or bushels per acre with these tables: ccc_pami_combine_seed_loss_guide_2017
From there, it’s up to you to determine if the losses are acceptable. If not, work to change one combine setting at a time to determine what changes are minimizing losses to an acceptable amount.
Some Watch Outs #
Changes in temperature, humidity, wind, and field variability can drastically change the settings required to capture seed. Knowing your combine and adjusting throughout the day will make a large difference. Canola pod shatter tolerance traits can be quite strong and one common challenge is sending full pods out the back of the combine. The combine is under threshing, but with a few adjustments to increase cylinder or rotor speed, narrow the concave setting, add concave blanks, or slow down, will help to crack those pods.
Header losses are not captured when measuring losses out of the back of the combine. This is something to keep an eye on when the crop is overly mature. Slowing down and changing reel speed will help minimize these types of losses.
Take the time to measure — it will save you time and money!
