In the News

Cashing in on Shorter Sunflowers
Missouri Farmer Today
Apr. 15, 2010
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By Mindy Ward

COLUMBIA — Standing just a little more than 3 feet, a new sunflower variety is packing a lot of production into such a small plant.

Rob Myers spends his days researching new crops Missouri farmers can use to diversify their operations and cropping rotations. As director of Crop Diversity at the Jefferson Institute, he tests a number of specialty crops.

For the past 10 years, he has traveled Missouri telling farmers the advantages of sunflower production. He explains how they make a good double crop after wheat in most areas.

He has persuaded some farmers to plant traditional varieties, which stand between 5 and 7 feet.

However, Myers is excited about new varieties hitting the market that offer standability and yield but in a smaller plant package.

In 2009, he tested Triumph short-stature sunflowers in a research plot at Jefferson Farm & Gardens.

Short-stature sunflowers approach harvest last summer at the Jefferson Institute Farm & Gardens. Rob Myers planted this new variety to research how it would work on Missouri farms. MFT photo by Mindy Ward

“It is an interesting variety,” he says.

Triumph Seed markets short-stature sunflowers for oil production. These hybrids range from 33 to 42 inches in height and are not considered ornamentals.

The company has its own breeding program, notes marketing manager Ben Benton.

Over the past 10 years, it has developed a number of sunflower varieties in all shapes and sizes.

“We have some with an upright head while others have a turned-down head for bird resistance,” Benton says.

Today, the company offers eight short-stature varieties.

Myers found these newer sunflowers are “much more vigorous with a thick stem and large head.”

The plant head measures 6 to 8 inches across, similar to the taller, more-traditional sunflower head.

Ray Stice of Cherryvale, Kan., recently started selling the seed and plans to market some to growers in Western Missouri.

“The guys like it because it stands better, which helps with yield and harvest,” he says.

Harvesting sunflowers requires farmers to lift grain heads.

“With 5- or 6-foot-tall varieties, those heads are at least three feet off the ground,” Stice explains. “With a shorter variety, the grain head does not have to be so high.”

Platform and row-crop heads have been used with sunflowers.

Benton does not recommend the platform or soybean head because they produce a higher seed and head loss. Corn heads need to be modified with a stationary cutting knife before use with sunflowers.

Wind damage is one of the biggest threats to a sunflower field. High winds can topple plants, cause lodging or make them shift off center.

“If the tall plants are blown over and leaning, the heads are running into the combine and beating the head,” Stice says. “You are losing seed like that.”

He says the smaller varieties are not affected by the wind. Stice cited research from Kansas State University that found the small sunflowers withstood winds of 76 mph.

“You are looking at plants that are only 36 inches tall instead of 60,” he says. “They stood perfectly.”

Weed pressure can be significant in sunflower fields. However, Myers was not “too concerned,” about weeds with the Triumph sunflower.

The variety produces large dark-green leaves, good for a quick canopy to block sunlight and prevent germination of competitive weeds.

If a weed problem arises, Stice says sunflower producers can apply herbicides with their equipment.

“For so long, the only remedy for weeds in tall sunflowers was to use an airplane to spray for control,” he says. “This variety offers sunflower producers more flexibility.”

Farmers can use “high-rise” spray equipment to control weed and insect problems.

“They can run their ground rig right over top,” Stice says.

The benefits of the small sunflowers may help U.S. sunflower farmers reach the latest USDA planting intentions report.

Producers are expected to increase planted acreage by 7 percent to 2.18 million acres, including oil and non-oil sunflowers.

Benton says sales of Triumph short-stature sunflowers continue to increase every year.

“They are our top sellers,” he says. “We think this is the way the industry is moving.”