Sunflowers make good double crop in High Plains

By Gary Jorgensen, National Sunflower Association, High Plains coordinator
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 2:04 PM CDT
 

Sunflower producers across the High Plains have varying reasons as to why they choose to grow sunflowers on their double cropped acres.

For some, sunflowers mature before other crops at the end of the season.

For others, they can utilize a low producing irrigation well to get another cash crop off in one season.

Still others believe that it’s difficult to find another crop that can handle the rigors of High Plains heat and dry conditions late in the summer as well as sunflowers.

Southwest Kansas has been an area that has found sunflowers to be a niche crop, and now with local delivery points, it has become even more attractive.

One producer believes that there isn’t another crop that he can plant after wheat that can sustain itself in the harsh heat and dry conditions of late summer like sunflowers and still offer a reasonable return for the effort. When compared to crops such as soybeans, grain sorghum, or even short season corn, for the amount of production cost per acre, sunflowers shine brightly. “It’s the only cash crop I can double crop that I know I can beat the frost, and it uses less water and nutrients than other options.”

Roger Cline of Liberal, Kan., has grown double cropped sunflowers since 2001. His approach is to plant before the wheat chaff has settled, and to plant shallow to get them to emerge quickly. Once the combine is shut off, the 16-row Kinze planter is pulled into the field and the sunflower seed is placed approximately a half inch deep directly into wheat stubble. He’ll drop between 32-33,000 seeds.

Most often the sandy soil is dry, so the sprinkler is started to make a pass or two and apply a half inch of water to insure an even emergence. To Cline, the most critical phase is getting the sunflowers to emerge evenly, then he allows them root down deep to find moisture from then on.

Most of Cline’s several hundred acres are planted on fields that must share water with the growing corn crop and corn is the predominant crop and he will not cheat it for moisture. He believes in allowing a lot of stress early.

“Just before the sunflowers die, I’ll give them another shot of about two inches of water, but that’s it!” he said.

Sunflowers being a crop that can handle these western Kansas summers are a natural fit in Cline’s rotation.

A starter fertilizer is used at planting: 15 pounds nitrogen and 10 pounds of phosphorus per acre. Later, he’ll apply another 30 pounds of nitrogen through the sprinkler. He is a believer in CoRoN, a controlled release nitrogen product from Helena Chemical, for added kick and he’ll see a 200- to 300-pound-per-acre yield advantage for the gallon he applies. Occasionally, he may even add a bit of CoRoN when applying insecticide later in the season.

The biggest single problem Roger has is drift from herbicides, such as Roundup and 2,4-D which someone might spray on their neighboring crop. On this sandy soil, Cline uses Prowl at the labeled maximum rate for effective weed control.

Cline does his own scouting for Head Moth, his biggest insect problem, and sprays when he sees the first evidence of moth activity. He doesn’t gamble or try to outguess whether or not to spray for moths. He just plans on it.

Harvest has been speeded up since he started using his John Deere 9750 combine. Using a row crop head, he has increased his ground speed to between 8 to 8.5 mph with his eight-row head. At that rate he can harvest a circle and a third every day, and in about a week if everything goes right, he can have sunflower harvest complete. He pushes harvest so he will begin as soon as he can and the moisture will be in the 11 percent to 12 percent range.

The sunflowers will be followed by corn, and Cline claims that his corn following sunflowers is “always taller and darker green” than prior to having sunflowers in his rotation. “The old horror story of sunflowers being hard on the ground is a myth," he said. "A farmer needs to understand that he needs to feed his next crop what it needs in the way of nutrients and water to allow the next crop a chance to produce. Sunflowers help mellow the ground with the deep tap root and I have a theory that the corn roots channel down into that old sunflower root to establish a deeper root system.”

Cline’s NuSun sunflowers are marketed through ADM in Tyrone, Okla., and last year he took advantage of the Act of God contract which paid quite handsomely. His Pioneer hybrids also give him a consistent premium for oil content, but the thing he likes the most is the standability, even with very strong western Kansas winds in October. Having only two measurable rain events in 2008, a 6” rain one day in August, and a 5” rain once in October, producing more than 2,000 pounds per acre proves to be a very nice double crop option, one he doesn’t foresee changing. Cline watches input costs closely, spending only what he must, and adds “sometimes the only money you make is what you don’t spend.”

Cline has experience growing other crops, including potatoes and popcorn, but some have a large capitol expenditure, require lots of water, and are full season. Sunflowers fit his application perfectly because they aren’t costly to grow, withstand adverse natural effects, and offer a second paycheck on a field in that year.

Top 10 reasons to double crop sunflower behind winter wheat

1. Prices for sunflower are the second highest on record

2. There are numerous local delivery points throughout the High Plains region

3. Sunflower is a very efficient crop on low output wells

4. Sunflower’s deep roots can break up hard pans

5. The crop will pick up unused N at deeper levels

6. Good choice of early maturing hybrids

7. Most areas have good subsoil moisture which will support a good second crop

8. Good production history of double crop sunflower over the last three seasons

9. Sunflower is quite frost tolerant

10. A field in bloom is one beautiful site!

From National Sunflower Association