Desiccation Becoming An Option For Sunflower Growers

The sunflower crop has been maturing a bit slower of the last few weeks.

Ben Friesen, commodity purchasing manager with Legumex Walker Inc., says the crop could use a lot more heat and sunshine as it approaches maturity.

He notes some of the earlier fields are into the R8 and R9 stages while others are still in R7, which means the heads have not yet turned yellow.

Friesen says growers should start to think about desiccation once the sunflower reaches full maturity (back of the heads turn yellow).

"There are some guys who have started some desiccation on some of the earlier seeded fields and of course we are recommending desiccation if they're ready to go," he said. "We can get them harvested quicker and we don't get as much wind damage or even diseases and birds getting into some of the fields."

Significant frost did occur in some of the west-central areas in the past week, noted Friesen. He says black leaves are a sign that growers should think twice about desiccating.

"If you have too much leaf loss, then the desiccant cannot be absorbed because it absorbers it through the leaves and then you would have little or no value," he said.

Friesen also reminds producers to clean all soybeans and corn from the combine before harvesting, as any foreign material would downgrade the value of the sunflower.

Source: SteinbachOnline