Western Australia’s new field pea growers are experimenting with different harvesting techniques according to a recent post-harvest survey by the Department of Agriculture.

The most effective methods will be presented at the Department’s Agribusiness Crop Updates in Perth from 15-16 February, supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

Pulse development officer Ian Pritchard said the number of field pea growers in Western Australia was at an all time high, and different harvesting techniques had been tried and tested in 2005 to see what works best.

Mr Pritchard said the Department had taken many photos and videos of the various harvester set-ups and would update the video - Successfully harvesting semi-leafless field pea and release a swathing field pea Farmnote during 2006.

“Direct harvesting Kaspa in 2004 was problematic due to the low seed to canopy ratio. In particular, getting Kaspa to flow on belts was often very difficult,” Mr Pritchard said.

“In 2005 the crops were yielding higher and flow was much better regardless of whether the crop was swathed or harvested with a draper front.

“Many of the suggestions to improve flow on draper fronts suggested in the Farmnote and video have been adopted and worked well.

“Higher yielding crops also meant growers were more willing to travel slowly and not push the system too far.”

Mr Pritchard said fitting paddles to cross augers on draper fronts also dramatically improved the flow of material into the harvester. However, many growers believed their set-ups could be further improved by fitting lupin breakers to the cross auger and stripping plates above or behind the cross auger.

“In the Lakes district, a grower fitted solid bars above the drape, which is a deluxe version of the wire fence idea,” Mr Pritchard said.

“Previous experience with Parafield in lower yielding years indicated the bars work quite well. In 2005, the Kaspa crop sat well on the belts so the bars were not required to do anything.

“Another innovation saw a farmer in the Northam district fit solid plates above the drape which held the crop on the draper front quite well.”

A number of growers tried picking up Kaspa without crop lifters when swathing or direct harvesting. This generally worked well and reduced the amount of dirt brought into the harvester.

However, it was important to adjust both the angle of the front and the angle and speed of the reel until the crop fed in efficiently, and to pay attention to the undercarriage to avoid crop build up.

On gravel soils, one grower found not using lifters actually increased the amount of gravel picked up – when lifters were fitted the gravel had time to drop out of the crop as it was picked up.

“In 2005, most farmers in the Esperance region and a few in the Great Southern tried swathing field pea crops. The general results were positive with all field pea varieties producing enough bulk so that the swaths were very stable,” Mr Pritchard said.

“Some farmers had fitted cross augers to their swathers, but many removed them due to material wrapping around the auger.”