Precipitation Welcome Sight For Sunflower Growers

Soil moisture is a concern right now for sunflower growers.

 

Morgan Cott is an Agronomy Extension Specialist (Special Crops) with the Manitoba Crop Alliance.

 

"I think one of the main things that we're worried about right now is moisture obviously, and whether we're going to be planting into moisture," she said. "Whether the sunflower root, because it's such a huge root, whether it's going to have access deep down to water, so that's my number one concern right now. We're getting moisture now, which is great. I think as long as producers, when they're planting, they're doing everything everything right and taking their time and placing the seed where it needs to be, taking care of weeds and insects before they emerge is always a good tip that we like to give."

 

Cott expects sunflower planting to get underway next month.

Video: Michigan Cover Crop Decision Tool Update 2026

Abigail Smith, NRCS State Agronomist, Monica Jean, MSU Extension Field Crops Educator, and Madelyn Cleovsky, MSU Extension Conservation Agronomist Educator, discuss 2025 updates made to MCCC’s Cover Crop Decision Tool for Michigan.

This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number 2023-38640-39573 through the North Central Region SARE program under project number ENC23-226. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.