Sunflower stands look strong in Manitoba, and the past week of wet conditions was good for crops in some areas, helping with seed fill. However, if the wet weather continues, sclerotinia could become a problem, as it could cause head rot.
With sunflower harvest likely upwards of four weeks away, the National Sunflower Association of Canada's agronomist, Troy Turner, says producers should be looking at desiccants heading into September. Turner says desiccation can help with quality, but it needs to happen at a certain time. That would be when the sunflowers are at a 30 to 35 per cent moisture level.
"What that basically looks like is the backs of your sunflower heads will be a very bright banana yellow. Your florets of the faces of the sunflowers will brush off very easily, and then the bracts, which are the little leaf-like structures on outsides of the back of the head, they're going to turn brown," he says.
Source : PortageOnline