Sunflower crops in the province are showing good emergence so far, but they're also showing evidence of cutworm issues.
That's according to National Sunflower Association of Canada (NSAC) agronomist Troy Turner who says many producers were surprised to see cutting and clipping of their crops already. Turner says the cutworms were able to move easily from plant to plant, as prior to recent rains soils were fairly dry.
"A lot of guys got on (the cutworm issue) right away, and there were a number of guys that had taken precautions ahead of time for cutworms and I think it looks like that's been working for them, too," Turner says.
Turner says the rain has slowed the cutworms a bit, but once the soil surface dries up a bit, he says the insects will be back and hungry.
Turner says most sunflower producers in the province didn't have any soil moisture concerns at seeding time, as the crops were generally planted between one to two inches. He says only a few areas struggled a bit to find moisture, although he adds recent rains have been good for germination and growth.
Source : Portageonline