This is the first time we have ran a windrower. This is a huge upgrade from sitting on our IH 4000 swather. We are able to cut 21 feet wide instead of 12 feet wide. We have an air conditioned cab. I am clean at the end of the day and I can still breath, this is the best reason to run a windrower vs the swather. The time saved is huge too. The swather cut at about 2 mph. This windrower was at 9 mph. It saves us days of time spend cutting.
Why are we cutting it instead of just harvesting it with a combine? This is certified organic oats. Cutting it like we do lets the grain, grass and other weeds dry a few days before we harvest. This makes for a nice dry grain to put into the bin. It helps improve the quality and storage of the grain. Since this will be sold as seed, this is a very gentle way to slowly dry the grain.
This oats was no-till planted into soybean ground that was not tilled since the previous Spring. We felt that by leaving the weed seed on top the ground, bugs, birds and the elements of nature would destroy a good amount of them. Why incorporate (plant) them? This field was left once the crop was removed. We would like to drill organic beans into it next Spring without any tillage again. We will see. Farmers need to adjust their plans on the fly sometimes.
Thanks for watching. Happy to answer any questions.
