After swathing or windrowing, allow buckwheat to cure a few days in the windrow (usually 7 to 10 days). During this time, some dry matter will translocate into the nearly-mature seeds and they will ripen in the windrow. This maturation increases the yield. Windrowing also helps reduce shattering because weather is not dictating the harvest time. It can be windrowed when the grain is ripe and combined when the weather permits.
Windrowing buckwheat is the normal practice in the western US, Canada and Maine. It removes most of the risk of shattering during direct combining, often increasing the harvested yield. Windrowing also reduces the risk of crop loss to windy and rainy weather.
Machine settings
When windrowing, cut the stem as high as possible to keep the windrow
off the ground for easier combining and for fewer stones. To avoid excess
grain shattering during the combining operation, adjust the reel speed
to correspond to the forward speed of the combine or windrower, and reduce
the combines pick-up speed to a minimum.
Pictures of combining windrowed buckwheat
If buckwheat is been killed by frost, it should be harvested as soon as possible (within a week). Although this action may create a few problems with straw wrapping in the combine, early harvest after a killing frost will reduce shattering losses.
Whether direct combining after a frost or windrowing, cutting buckwheat
when there is a dew on the ground in the morning or after dusk seems to
help reduce shattering losses because the plant is tougher.
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New Holland twin-rotor combines that work for soybeans will also work for buckwheat. Open the concaves all the way, slow the rotors to 550 rpm, raise the fan to 600. These settings worked well on a field that had green leaves and stalks, 100% black kernels that did not fall off when hit with the hand, and a yield of 1600 lb/ac at 20% moisture. |
Machine settings
When direct combining, cut the crop as high as possible and keep the ground speed down so that the machine is not overloaded. Use as much air as possible without blowing out clean grain. Regulate the chaffer openings so that the grain drops to the lower sieve before it has passed over 2/3 the length of the chaffer; but without admitting too much coarse material. Close the lower adjustment sieve as far as possible without carrying clean grain into the return elevator.
The quality of the grain suffers from rough handling, so the combine should be adjusted accordingly. Go slow. Reduce the cylinder speed to only 1/3 of that used for wheat or oats (typically 400 to 500 rpm). Proper adjustment of the concave openings, both front and rear, is very important. Open the concaves as high as possible to remove the maximum amount of grain without excessively breaking the straw. The straw should ride straight through. This clearance is approximately 3/8 inch in the front and 3/4 inch in the rear. This adjustment will need to be adjusted during the day as the seed is more easily removed.
Before doing much harvesting, make a trip around the field and then
check the grain to see if these adjustments are correct. If the seed is
cracked and broken, reduce the cylinder speed until the damage no longer
occurs. Your operators manual probably has useful information for harvesting
a green crop.