With a harvest window from January through to March, dependent on season and local ground conditions, you might be wanting to consider cutting within the next two months.
As long as the cane is cut into rods rather than broken up, it will absorb very little external moisture, so leaving it in the swath for as long as it takes for any sap to dry out is unlikely to be detrimental.
Avoid raking any ground litter or leaf material – this is useful to returning nutrients to the ground and creates a mat like surface that usually keeps the ground drier than surrounding fields / tracks therefore widening the harvest window.
When to consider cutting early;
- When cane is still green at the end of January, to allow plenty of time for it to dry out before baling.
- When ground conditions are good for travelling, why wait and risk it getting wetter.
- When you might want to carry out weed control or other remedial work, cutting early maximizes the window for this work before the crop starts to regrow.
- Every other possible circumstance except the exception under “When to consider cutting late”
When to consider cutting late;
- When ground conditions are wet and the soil structure is likely to sustain damage through compaction.
The potential harvesting and baling window is long. Look after your soil, but plan to use as much of that window as necessary to ensure that the crop dries thoroughly from within. This means cutting as early as the ground allows.
