HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1990-03-14, Page 35unflowers,
.e cash crop
by Marg Burkhart
An uncommon sight in the Huron -Bruce
area is a field: of sunflowers.. However
last year a 10 acre plot could be found in
Huron Township. Harro Wehrms.. of
1, Ripley became interested in sunflowers.
as, a feasible cash erop through a friends.
in the Arthur area, where owers'are
more prominent.
Mr. Wehrmann cash crops 590 acres
and has as his base crops canola,'wheat,.
soybeans, white beans, oats and barley.
According to Mr. Wehrmann,"sunflowers
,are grown either for use as bird feed, or
for use in the oils market. He optedto
grow the birdfeed variety simply
because of a better market value at
harvest. Sunflowers grown for oil com-
pete on the market with the other" oil ;pro-
ducing crops, hence, the price for such
seed is not as strong."
Sunflowers that aregrown commerical.
ly produce somewhat smaller heads, than
the 'varieties that would be found in a
home garden. Garden sunflowers are
mostly open -pollinated, whereas, com ner-
tial ones are hybrids and. are purposely
bred smaller for better harvest ability.
Larger heads collect moisture which
causes would. Also the large heads break
open very easily causing the seed to fall
to the ground.
Mr. Wehrmann indicated that
sunflowers have no definite preference
for soil type. The particular .acreage on.
which his were planted would_ be
classified as a sandy soil and his fer-
tilizer application per acre was: 60 albs.
nitrogen, 15 lbs. phosphate, and 30 lbs:
potash.
,Mr. Wehrmann said sunflowers have
one of the best root systems of all plants,
and have an excellent self-feeding, abili-
ty. He pointed out that 60 lbs. peracre
of nitrogen was ample . and used com-
parison,
omparison, corn, which would require 150
lbs. of 'nitrogen per acre.
Although a seed drill could be used for
planting, he used a corn planter with 30
inch rows. By planting in this manner, he
was able to scuffle the sunflowers. Scuf-
fling proved to be an adequate form of.
weed control. However, M. Wehrmann
stressed that chemicals might be nereded.
to control grass , if they in fact were a
specific problem In that particular field.
It is easy to control broadleaf weeds
because sunflowers grow so vigoraasIy.
When asked about insect infestation,
Mr. Wehrmann stated that the seed borer
can damage the seed in the sunflower
head, and it can be :a serious problem. It
is a difficult situation to control since it
is not feasible to spray a six foot plant.
White mould (scierotinia) is the most
devastating disease that can strike
sunflowers.. This disease • also occurs in
canis, soys and white beans and while
they can survive, the disease is absolute-
ly fatal to sunflowers. Within three days
of infestation, the sunflower plant will
die. Mr. Wehrmann pointed out that
because of the seriousness of this disease
and its occurrence inhis other base
crops, it will be difficult for him to do an
effectivecrop rotation.
• The challenge of • growing sunflowers
comes at harvest time. The heads have
'to be as dry as possible for harvesting.]
As any farmer knows, the chances of ex
periencing: perfect weather conditions in
the fall are not great.
Mr. Wehrmann intended to use the soy-
bean
oybean flex head on his combine. He put
dividers between the rows on the header
and removed every second reel bar. It
seemed like a good�plan, but as the
plants werew.cut-off, they fell forward on-
to the ground instead of falling into. the
header. As a result, he figured he was
losing about 15 per cent of the plants. At
this . stage, he decided to hire someone
with a soybean row crop header: on their
combine and that seemed to do the job
quite satisfactorily.
The yield was 100 bushels to the acne.
Prices for sunflower seed are, very'
favourable, compared to -soybeans, cora ,
. and small' grains. The price in 1988 was'
.16 per pound; in 1989, .20 per pound. The
1990 price is to be announced as yet, but,
it is likely to be lower than last year.
When •asked if he would. grow
sunflowers again, he said, "Yes, 30 acres.
next year.,, What happens after that will
depend on market price and his success
at growing the crop on.a larger scale.
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For Harro Wehrmann of Huron Township, the challenge of growing sunflowers. can ie
at harvest time. He managed' to get the crop off after some initial difficulties, and
intends to increase his acreage next year. (Marg Burkhart photo) .,
Ordered by Picked up on:
March 30/90 :. � , - - - May " 4/90.
April 27/90 - - . June 1/90
Medicated or Non -medicated feed
available, as well as feeders,
waterers, grit, vitamins, medications
° • and disinfectants
Box 128, Lucknow, Ont. NOG 2H0
528-3000 .
1-800-528-3006