Swather

[2] The reel helps cut crop fall neatly onto a canvas or auger conveyor which deposits it into a windrow with stems aligned and supported above the ground by the stubble.

[4] Horizontal rollers behind the cutters may be used to crimp or condition the stems of hay crops to decrease drying time.

[5] For grains, as combines replaced threshing machines, the swather introduced an optional step in the harvesting process to provide for the drying time that binding formerly afforded.

[6]: 212–217  Swathing is still more common in the northern United States and Canada than regions with longer growing seasons where standing grain crops can be harvested directly by combines.

[8] Alternatively, chemical desiccation of weedy or irregularly ripe standing crops with glyphosate, paraquat or diquat has been used to enable direct combining.