swathing peas for drydown

[tman]

Does anyone have any experience of swathing peas several days or a week prior to harvest? I would like to dessicate the crop and weeds by swathing instead of spraying since we have to swath them anyways. Are the swaths very prone to being blown around like canola in a strong wind, or are the peas heavy enough to hold down the swath once the swaths settle?

[ado089]

If you swath peas and you get a wind you'll only have one pass to do along the fence. That is the reason people quit growing peas the first go around in the 80's. Also if you get a rain on them they have a tendency to stay WET until spring. We try not to get more than 3hrs ahead of the combine with swathing peas.

[freewheat]

Where are you located? Not all areas are prone to wind. No one hardly rolls canola here, most guys swath peas here too. I think it depends on where your at. A "here" thing...

[tman]

I'm in southern MB. There has been days in the past with strong winds, enough to ruffle some canola swaths but not to destroy the swaths completely like I've heard in SK. The strong winds that I remember have come from the south. The one year in my mind is the same year that we had a few peas swaths laying to dry down the sow thistles. Those were lying N and S so they weren't touched.

[BTOfarmallll]

Where in Southern Manitoba TdaMan????? Noone grows Peas here anymore onther than The Hutts & they look like Shit!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tman]

God's country! But looking at some parts of the crops, I think God must be trying to tell us something.

[wd9]

Dessicating seems faster drying then swathing if not too weedy, done both ways and found straight cut after spraying the best with good weed control. Sometimes that stupid swath just will not dry.

[tman]

Huh, I always thought swathing was more effective at drying down. I'm assuming that you used reglone since glyphosate takes at least a couple weeks.

[riders2010]

If you have weeds they will help hold the swath down, we do both ways direct and swath and never lost to wind with the swath to this point. Depends how ripe the peas are also, if very ripe and straw bushy will be more difficult to compact down in swath, but if more greener then usually swath packs in pretty good. Huge factor though is the weather in terms of rains, if you get a prolonged period of rains sprouting in the swathed stuff can become a problem more so than standing. Although standing stuff if lodged may become difficult to cut after if ground is wet. See this decision is so easy! Good luck!