The Rural Voice, 2000-08, Page 33strictly one of trial and error.
"We could obtain all kinds of
information on the striped, but
couldn't find out anything on
growing the black oil seed." That
first year in 1998, they planted three
and a half acres and despite the lack
of knowledge found the experiment
"worked very well."
"We averaged 1,800 lbs. of clean
product per acre and repeated that
last year," says Szusz, adding that the
weather had really co-operated with
lots of sunshine and heat.
And
those would primarily be
the only conditions needed.
Fertile soil is not important,
no chemicals are used. Planted with a
corn planter in 30 inch rows, Szusz
tries to scuffle them before they get
too big. If the weeds are under
control early, the flowers canopy out,
smothering any new growth so the
fields stay clean from there on in.
The sunflowers are harvested with
a combine in the middle of
September before the birds come
back. "The heads have to drop totally
down and be brown or black in
colour." The settings on the combine
have to be set so the seeds, which are
very light, aren't going to blow out
the back end.
After harvest the seeds are left in
wagons for about a month with
aeration to make sure they're dry.
They are then brought into the plant
and run through the cleaning machine
to be bagged and put on the floor for
sale.
However, noting that sunflower oil
is a big seller now, Szusz admits it
would be nice to take it to the next
level.
"The biggest thing with growing
sunflowers is that it's a five-year
rotation crop. So if you had a group
of farmers in the area and could
rotate through it would keep the crop
going for someone to go to the
expense of building a crushing
plant."
The idea of a co-operative venture
is something that could be looked at
too. "Even a crushing plant in
Ontario would be a help, but it
doesn't feasibly pay to truck them
out west."
"The oil market is ever expanding.
It's an industry Huron County should
be considering," says Szusz.0
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