dwarf sunflowers

[nerland]

What has happened to dwarf sunflowers (sunola, sunwheat, etc.)? It sounded like a crop that would work well on the prairies, but then sort of disappeared.

[darren]

I grew some in '97(HO Sunola) and it was pathetic. Damn near broke me. 100 lbs. of 34-17 on summerfallow, 15 lbs of Edge. Tried some on irrigation too only more fertilizer and water. All of the fields had some severe lodging yeilds were pathatic and to top it off I almost lost them in the bin due to heating. I had them contracted for $420 tonne and could have made some money if I could have got then to yield.

[piquett]

The dwarf sunflower market just sort of fizzled. There were disease problems as well. They are very susceptible to sclerotinia and whole stands came down from stem rot. Also, birds were a big problem.

[buss]

Another thing to keep in mind with sunflowers is their bushel weight (35 lbs). The relative cost to ship sunflower versus canola (60 lb bushel weight) is greater. And, with little preference for sunflower over canola oil by the trade and with the relative abundance of canola crushers and lack of close by sunflower crushers, the crop could not compete. Besides all the diseases, insect and bird problems I was not that pleased with the maturity times on dwarf sunflowers. The literature may talk about 95 to 108 days but the weather can stretch this out. These dwarfs also need a fair bit of heat. In Vermilion this year plots I planted on May 5 are a write off due to our cool season. As well, sunflowers are considered well suited for dry areas but its not because they are moisture use efficient like peas are. They use a lot of water but can root very deeply to source it. The result in dry areas can be moisture deficits for the crop following suflowers. In some American locals summerfallow is made after sunflowers to get around this problem.