Harvesting Swathed Winter Canola near Fairview, OK 5-26-11

[tallokie67]

Some of the canola producers want to swath the crop first to even the maturity (if the field is uneven), harvest sooner (beat the heat and get done before winter wheat is ready), and to help protect it from shatter due to wind and storms. Canola is swathed when it’s still green and will ripen in the windrow. In Oklahoma it usually only takes 4-10 days to ripen. Canola will typically shatter less when swathed and rolled into a firm windrow vs. leaving it standing and letting it mature naturally.

[wasilijav]

Why you first cut Canola in to the rows and just then harvest with that header ?