ant chipped, cracked, stained, de-hulled or insect-damaged grain. The larger seed of the green lentil can make them more prone to mechanical damage. Early harvest is important for quality, as well as for efficient harvesting and to avoid crop losses. To minimise seed damage and losses, harvest in cool, early morning conditions and using a combination of low drum speed and a wide concave clearance.
Lentil grain can be delivered at up to 14% moisture content where aerated storage is available, making an early harvest practical. Harvesting early, when some seeds and pods are still green is preferable to delaying until all seeds are dry. This avoids pod drop and shattering of the early pods and excessive lodging, but may necessitate the aeration of the harvested grain. The risk of ascochyta spoilage of seed increases with delayed harvest, especially during a wet summer. The seed coat colour of lentil will bleach if left in hot sunny conditions for long periods of time. Timing can often coincide with barley harvesting so priorities must be set.
It is often better to harvest lentil crops up and back or in the one direction only, rather than around the paddock. There can be a ‘frustration factor’ with growers cutting corners when harvesting lentil, resulting in grain quality problems at delivery. The high value of lentil well justifies spending a little more time and effort before and during harvest.
See also 'Meeting lentil market requirements'.
Harvesting for retained seed
Select an area as free as possible from diseases, pests and weed seed. Ensure that headers, bins, augers and other equipment are not contaminated with insects, cereal grain, weed seed or other lentil varieties as these can be almost impossible to remove during cleaning. Glyphosate is not registered for seed crops and should not be used in pulses intended for seed production or sprouting.
Grain storage and handling
Belt shifters are the recommended method of handling lentils as they can be damaged by auger flights. If an auger is used it should be run full and at a slower speed than for cereals. Augers with a gap between the flight and the barrel are less likely to jam.
The seedcoat of most lentils will darken over time; however the extent of this darkening will vary depending on the original seed coat colour and storage conditions. We could expect lentils to darken faster when stored in warm, moist conditions compared to cool, dry conditions. Under typical farm storage conditions, darkening of lentil seed can be expected to be slow enough that marketing can occur late into the next season. Lentils can also darken very quickly if exposed to sunlight, particularly if they have a light coloured seed coat like green lentils (eg Boomer) or Aldinga red lentils.
Lentils are best not stored in bunkers or in ‘sausage bags’ for any length of time as pockets of moisture can quickly lead to black, mouldy grain which can contaminate the remainder of product. Black, mouldy grain can also taint the sample with a most unpleasant odour, rendering it unacceptable for consumption.
To discourage mould growth and insect infestation, the moisture content of seed stored on farm for the next season should not be over 13%. If the moisture content of harvested grain is too high, aerated storage will prevent spoilage. Alternatively, moving the grain from one silo to another on a warm dry day can help reduce moisture content by 1–2%.
Lentil seed is more prone to mechanical damage than most other pulses. Keep handling to a minimum, particularly when using screw augers.
Damage to silo side walls and even collapse can occur when emptying silos of stored lentil. Growers are advised to store lentil in field bin type silos with low walls or only partially fill taller silos. It is also advised that lentil grain be unloaded slowly and in smaller amounts than normally done with other crops.
Good grain hygiene is important with lentil. Contaminants such as insects and other grains and weed seeds are very undesirable. There is a nil tolerance of animal excreta, rodent carcases, moulds and offens