If you don’t already have crops being harvested, you’re likely keeping a close eye on your fields to decide when to start. Just like any other crop, timing of when you start harvesting your canola can have big impacts on yield and quality, here are a few things to keep in mind as you watch your crops progress this fall.

The first decision to make is whether you will be harvesting or swathing a crop. This is largely influenced by hybrid– if you have seeded canola with pod shatter protection, such as a Pod DefendR hybrid, you may be able to leave these fields out to straight cut.