PRE-HARVEST APPLICATIONS
The use of herbicides as harvest aids or desiccants is recommended to optimize carinata harvest. Harvest aids and desiccants increase the uniformity of crop dry-down and depending on the product used can speed dry down allowing for earlier harvest. A combination of desiccants may be beneficial, refer to your local rep for optimal desiccant use.
Glyphosate Use
Pre-harvest glyphosate applications can even out crop maturity and provide late season weed control. Glyphosate applications are ideal at 70% seed color change. Observing these application guidelines ensures active ingredient is not transferred into the seed, and limits the potential for yield loss that could occur by premature application. Glyphosate applications will kill the carinata plants resulting in no potential for regrowth later in the season. Should harvest be delayed by adverse weather, however, crop dry down will occur at a natural pace, speed to harvest is not significantly increased with an application of pre-harvest glyphosate.
Benefits:
• Glyphosate is systemic and will kill carinata plants limiting any risk of regrowth initiation.
• Glyphosate provides activity on susceptible weeds present in the crop canopy.
• Lowest cost option.
Cautions:
• Application timing must be followed carefully.
• Glyphosate applications will not result in rapid dry down of the crop. Plant growth will be halted but dry down will progress based on prevalent weather conditions.
HARVEST AID HERBICIDE USE
Harvest Aid Herbicide Use: Example – Saflufenacil
Harvest aid herbicides are applied in tank-mixtures with glyphosate. These mixtures will provide the benefits of pre-harvest glyphosate applications and increase the speed of crop dry down relative to glyphosate alone. Note that dry down will not be as fast as should be observed with a true desiccant herbicide. Harvest aid herbicides are generally contact herbicides, thus canopy penetration and coverage with spray droplets necessitates the use of high water volumes. Applications must be made later in the crop. Harvest aid applications should not be made until the crop has reach 75% seed color change.
Benefits:
• Similar to glyphosate applications with the addition of more rapid crop dry down and an additional mode of action to provide late-season weed control
Cautions:
• Similar to glyphosate
Desiccant Herbicide Use: Example – Diquat
Desiccants are herbicides that work very fast – these tend to be contact activity only herbicides that kill plant tissue they directly come into contact with. These products are not systemic thus they do not enter the plant and kill it, they work by entering and rupturing the cell walls of cells each droplet lands on and is absorbed. High water volume and complete plant coverage is required for successful activity.
Benefits:
• Rapid dry down of plant material. In warm conditions harvest can begin in as little as 3-7 days after successful applications.
• Application should be made close to harvest when at least 90% of seed has reached maturity and changed color.
Cautions:
• Desiccants will kill the plant material they touch, but they do not necessarily kill the plant. If poor conditions limit the opportunity to harvest after application of a desiccant plants can begin to regrow putting out new green material that can negatively impact harvestability and harvested grain moisture content
• A dense crop canopy makes even application to whole plants very difficult with desiccants, lack of coverage will lead to poor herbicide performance
• Application of desiccants should not be made to fields with highly variable plant staging. Immature plants will not be effectively dried down and mature plants are more susceptible to pod shatter after desiccant applications.
• Desiccants are often not effective at providing additional weed control
• Do not tank-mix glyphosate and some desiccants. The rapid activity of the desiccant can limit trans-location and effectiveness of glyphosate.\
COMBINE SETTINGS
Field Adjusting
Once you enter the field and cut approximately 100 yards or more, stop the combine, shut off the engine, and walk around the combine and platform looking for Carinata seed leaks. Get the leaks repaired before you continue to harvest.
Best Practices + Recommendations
• Like other crops you harvest, cut a small sample and test for moisture.
• As you adjust your combine, make one adjustment at a time so you can view results.
• Ground speed needs to be fast enough to load the combine and help bring crop into the platform
▪ Suggest: Adjust platform for even feeding and minimum seed loss.
• Partial stalks with some seed pods still attached can be seen coming off the straw walker or rotor. There might be a few immature seeds in the pods. We recommend you NOT over tighten the concave or increase cylinder/rotor speed to remove these seeds.
• Over threshing will result in more broken seed and seed loss due to overloading the cleaning system.
• Check for broken seeds. Slow down cylinder/rotor and/or open/close the concave, try one at a time.
• Increase the air until seed starts coming out the rear and then lower just a little.
• Recheck the tailings/return system to insure there is no seed.
Retaining Seed
It is normal to see the larger trash around the edge of the grain tank. Adjustments should be made to prevent any increase in trash.
Minimize Trash Accumulation
The trash moves to the edges of the truck as you load it. This sample below has too much trash. The combine needs some adjustments to remove the trash.
DELIVERY, GRADING, AND SETTLEMENTS
Moisture
Grain should be delivered at 10% moisture or below. Green and foreign material may increase moisture. We recommend using glyphosate, glyphosate plus a harvest aid herbicide, or a desiccant and following the recommended combine settings.
Foreign Material & Damage
• Conspicuous mixture
• Stones
• Sclerotinia
• Ergot
• White-rimmed seed or mold-colored seed
• Shrunken or shriveled seed
• Sprouted seed
• Any other seed distinctly discolored or damaged.
Settlement Calculation & Payment
Payment will be processed within 30 days of final grain delivery and verification that all required Nuseed sustainability paperwork is completed. The Nuseed team will provide a complete summary of all deliveries, discounts, and settlement adjustments such as trucking payments.
Nuseed strongly prefers ACH payments. If a grower prefers a paper check, processing will be within 60 days of final grain delivery.
For more carinata harvesting and production best practices review the Nuseed Carinata Grower Manual. If you have further inquiries reach out to one of our Nuseed Carinata Reps.
