Swathing vs. Straight Combining Barley
This article was originally written with the assistance of Dr. Brian Rossnagel, University of Saskatchewan and Michael Brophy, Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. The full article, Barley: Malting, can be viewed here.
Both straight combining and swathing can produce marketable malting barley. Desiccants and harvest aids such as pre-harvest glyphosates are not allowed for malt barley production. Swathing should be delayed until the moisture content is below 30 per cent. At this stage, the barley kernel is difficult to dent with your thumbnail.
Standard recommendations for swathing versus straight combining barley are not common. Generally, time and quality management, equipment availability, and personal preference will determine whether or not producers swath or straight combine. However, there is a trend to straight combining, which will likely continue.
Time and quality management, equipment availability, and personal preference will determine whether or not you swath or straight combine your barley. Here are some advantages of each from Saskatchewan Agriculture:
Swathing barley:
- Protection against shattering – this is particularly true for varieties with a higher tendency to shatter. However, to protect against pre-harvest sprouting and staining, it is recommended to leave the crop standing as long as possible.
- Faster dry-down, given proper drying conditions in the swath.
- Terminates under-story growth (late flushes of tillers, volunteers and weeds).
- Offers the opportunity, if you have a thin stand, to create a double swath to better utilize combine capacity.
- Offers a strategy to deal with lodging.
Straight combining barley:
The advantages of straight combining are generally related to time management, as well as quality management, especially during wet fall conditions.
- Protection against sprouting (chitting) and staining.
- If the grain is tough, it will dry faster in the head than in the swath, resulting in better quality and shorter time to harvest.
- Heavy dew will affect grain quality (sprouting, staining) in the swath more than standing grain.
- Provides one operation; however, if areas of the field are still a bit green, producers may harvest around these areas to protect quality, resulting in additional trips to the field.
For more tips and management practices for your barley harvest, visit our Harvest & Storage Resources page.
Cover image provided by FarmPhotos.ca Photo Library.
