East Lansing, Michigan
September 28, 2007
Weather has not been kind to
farmers this growing season, and though late summer rain has
improved dry conditions, soybean producers should take extra
precautions to reduce harvest losses this year as the beans and
pods are very dry.
“Dry pods are often brittle and that increases the potential for
shatter losses at the header,” says Mike Staton,
Michigan State University (MSU)
Extension educator and Soybean 2010 coordinator. “Shattering
accounts for most of the losses that occur during harvest
operations and make up as much as 75 percent of total harvest
losses.”
Harvest losses of 10 percent of the total yield can easily occur
and can reach 15 percent if combine operators don’t pay close
attention to equipment adjustments and operation. With careful
management, harvest losses can be held to 3 percent or less.
“The best way to prevent shatter losses is to harvest as much of
your crop as possible before the moisture level in the beans
falls below 13 percent,” Staton says. “When soybeans undergo
repeated wetting and drying cycles after initially drying below
13 percent moisture, the pods become more brittle and shatter
easily.”
Mechanical damage and split beans are also more likely this year
due to the low moisture levels in the beans. Check the clean
grain hopper on the combine frequently, and make adjustments as
necessary to reduce splits.
The following recommendations will help you harvest and market
more of your 2007 soybean crop.
- Keep knife sections sharp
and tight and make sure that all guards, wear plates and
hold-down clips are in good condition and properly adjusted.
Consider replacing standard knife sections with narrow knife
sections to reduce shatter losses.
- Operate the cutter bar as
close to the ground as possible.
- Keep the ground speed at
three to four miles per hour or less.
- Adjust reel to run about
25 percent faster than ground speed. For a 42-inch diameter
reel, this is about 10 to 11 revolutions per minute per mile
per hour of ground speed (i.e. 30 rpm for 3 mph).
- If the crop is standing
well, position the reel axis about 6 to 9 inches ahead of
the cutter bar, and adjust the reel height so that the tips
of the fingers operate about 12 inches above the ground. If
the plants are tangled or lodged, position the reel axis
about 9 to 12 inches ahead of the cutter bar, and adjust the
height so that the reel runs about 1 inch above the ground.
Raise the reel if plants are riding over the top of the
reel.
- Take advantage of
conditions that create damp pods, such as dew, light rains
or high humidity to reduce shattering.
- Maintain the slowest
cylinder speed possible that produces complete threshing.
- Remember that you are
losing one bushel per acre for every four beans per square
foot you find on the ground.
For more information about
improving Michigan’s soybean crop, visit the Soybean 2010 Web
page at
http://web1.msue.msu.edu/soybean2010/.
Soybean 2010 was developed to help
Michigan growers increase soybean yields and farm profitability
by 2010. Funding is provided by MSU Extension; Project GREEEN
(Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and
Environmental Needs), the plant industry initiative at MSU; and
the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee. |
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