Harvest resources

For the nation’s grain growers, harvest is the most critical time of the year and the culmination of months of managing the crop to optimise yield.

Planning and preparation support the aims of harvest efficiency, safety and profitability.

Our harvest resources cover all aspects of harvest such as:

preparing crops for harvest
minimising grain loss at harvest
reducing harvester fire risk
farm business considerations.

Pre-harvest
Optimising harvest loss
Weed seed control
Logistics and business
Pest management

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

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

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.

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.

Canola – Windrow on time, reap the rewards

This guide will help determine optimal windrow timing.

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

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

Tips to avoid harvester fires

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

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.

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.

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

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

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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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Grower case studies from the Kwinana East Port 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Stored grains website

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

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Mouse control

Mouse management is now a year-round activity.

Tips and tactics: better mouse management

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

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.

Snail identification and control: the back pocket guide

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

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.

Snail management fact sheet

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

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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