Harvest resources

For the nation’s grain growers, harvest is the most critical time of the year.

The culmination of months of carefully managing the crop to optimise yield, a successful harvest is every grower’s priority.

Thorough planning and preparation is the precursor to boosting harvest efficiency and safety, and ultimately the profitability of the farming business.

Over many years, we've invested in research, development and extension (RD&E) to equip growers with knowledge, skills and resources to underpin best practice harvest operations. We continue to invest in harvest-related RD&E that delivers invaluable management recommendations to growers and advisers

The resources below cover all aspects of harvest – preparing crops for harvest, minimising grain loss at harvest, reducing harvester fire risk and farm business considerations.

Maximising canola performance at harvest
Maximising canola performance at harvest

Maurie Street, CEO Grain Orana Alliance, talks about windrow timing and direct heading in canola and effects on yield and oil.

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Stewardship for pre-harvest application of herbicides in winter crops
Stewardship for pre-harvest application of herbicides in winter crops

The responsibility to avoid herbicide residues in delivered cereal, pulse and oilseed grains sits squarely with grain growers and their advisers.

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Early lupin harvest can cut grain losses and optimise quality
Early lupin harvest can cut grain losses and optimise quality

Optimum harvest for lupins in WA is at crop maturity when grain moisture levels reach 14 percent. Harvest delays can increase the risks of pod drop, seed shedding, plant lodging, pod shattering and physical damage to seed, which can result in yield losses of 5-20 per cent.

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The impact of harvest management in chickpeas
The impact of harvest management in chickpeas

In recent years, chickpeas have transitioned from being generally considered a rotation option between cereal crops to becoming a ‘pillar’ crop of the northern farming system.

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Canola – Windrow on time, reap the rewards
Canola – Windrow on time, reap the rewards

This guide will help determine optimal windrow timing.

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Reducing the risk of harvester fires
Reducing the risk of harvester fires

An example of how to set up paddocks and machinery and other measures to reduce the risk of harvester fires.

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Reducing harvest fires: the back pocket guide
Reducing harvest fires: the back pocket guide

Harvester fires can not only damage or destroy machinery but can also cause considerable damage to surrounding crops and properties and endanger life.

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Tips to avoid harvester fires
Tips to avoid harvester fires

Harvester fires can damage equipment, destroy crop and infrastructure and endanger life.

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GRDC Harvester Set-up Guide - optimising harvest losses
GRDC Harvester Set-up Guide - optimising harvest losses

The GRDC Harvester Set-up Guide is a practical guide to help grain growers optimise harvest losses through harvester set-up.

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Harvest loss goals as grain percentage
Harvest loss goals as grain percentage

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers recommend that machine harvest losses should be 1% of grain yield or less for all grains. However, experience by grain growers, ag engineers and proponents of grain loss measuring equipment have found some exceptions to this rule.

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Online harvester forum
Online harvester forum

Online forum full of practical tips, designed to help growers measure and reduce their harvest losses, understand and integrate harvest weed seed control into their system and manage harvester fires.

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Minimising canola losses: part 1
Minimising canola losses: part 1

A practical demonstration of how much can be lost and how that loss was measured.

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Minimising canola losses: part 2
Minimising canola losses: part 2

Demonstrates how to measure the volume of grain lost out the back for your header.

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Harvest loss calculator
Harvest loss calculator

A calculator designed to measure grain loss at harvest using a drop tray that is mounted underneath the harvester.

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Weed seed bank destruction - header setup & tips for narrow windrowing
Weed seed bank destruction - header setup & tips for narrow windrowing

Andrew Messina, (WA grower) explains his experience with cutter bar height, chute design, chute height, crop specific tips.

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Chaff lining explained
Chaff lining explained

Peter Newman, from the GRDC-supported Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative and industry WeedSmart project, explains how to set up for chaff lining at harvest.

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Tools and tips: setting up for chaff lining
Tools and tips: setting up for chaff lining

The chaff lining technique is the cheapest harvest weed seed control tool, both in terms of capital cost and overall cost, including nutrient concentration.

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Investigating the harvest weed seed control tools chaff lining and chaff tramlining (chaff deck) in the Esperance area
Investigating the harvest weed seed control tools chaff lining and chaff tramlining (chaff deck) in the Esperance area

Grower case studies from the Esperance Port Zone.

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Investigating harvest weed seed control tools in low biomass crops in the Kwinana East Zone
Investigating harvest weed seed control tools in low biomass crops in the Kwinana East Zone

Grower case studies from the Kwinana East Port Zone.

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Harvest Weed Seed Control for the Southern High Rainfall Zone
Harvest Weed Seed Control for the Southern High Rainfall Zone

HWSC is an important tool to consider for weed management because it is a late-season cultural control tactic. Annual ryegrass is particularly difficult to control in the southern high rainfall zone.

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Impact of chaff lining on the seed persistence and emergence of weeds
Impact of chaff lining on the seed persistence and emergence of weeds

Burial of weed seeds under chaff can reduce seedling emergence, but the amount of suppression depends on weed type, chaff type, and amount of chaff cover.

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Weed control in Australian grain production systems, now and into the future
Weed control in Australian grain production systems, now and into the future

Harvest weed seed control (HWSC) is an important component of a successful weed management package.

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Determining the optimum level of investment in harvest machinery
Determining the optimum level of investment in harvest machinery

It is critical to understand the policy that underpins the decision-making process when considering purchasing machinery.

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Documenting a contract harvest agreement – what you need to know
Documenting a contract harvest agreement – what you need to know

A well-constructed contract harvest agreement will minimise the potential areas of contention once harvest begins and when the invoice arrives after completion.

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Stored grains website
Stored grains website

This website contains information regarding grain storage, including factsheets and booklets.

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Mouse control
Mouse control

Mouse management is now a year-round activity.

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Tips and tactics: better mouse management
Tips and tactics: better mouse management

Detecting mice early through monitoring is critical for controlling numbers effectively and reducing crop damage.

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Mitigating snails, slugs and slaters in Southern Western Australia
Mitigating snails, slugs and slaters in Southern Western Australia

Snails are the most widespread of these pests in Western Australia (WA). They cause damage to grain crops at germination and can potentially cause a costly downgrade of harvested grain if not carefully managed.

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Snail identification and control: the back pocket guide
Snail identification and control: the back pocket guide

Grain contamination by round and conical snails poses a serious threat to grain exports.

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Bash'Em Burn'Em Bait'Em: Integrated snail management in crops and pastures
Bash'Em Burn'Em Bait'Em: Integrated snail management in crops and pastures

Grain contamination by round and conical snails poses a serious threat to grain exports. Snails also cause damage to emerging crops and can clog machinery at harvest resulting in delays and frustration.

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Snail management fact sheet
Snail management fact sheet

Snails cause problems at crop emergence and harvest, integrated management needs to occur across the seasons.

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Identification and control of pest slugs and snails for broadacre crops in Western Australia
Identification and control of pest slugs and snails for broadacre crops in Western Australia

Numbers of slugs and snails have increased in broadacre cropping in Western Australia with the use of minimum tillage and stubble-retention practices.

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