Growing Sunflowers in Kent

[delilah]

Where would you suggest we buy the seeds from? Most of the stuff online for bird feed has been sterilised.

Keep it local

https://newtone.uk/

 

[AnnaMooMoo]

I’m on my second year as growing sunflowers as a break crop. I buy the specialist seed which has been bread to have a smaller amount of pith on the head as it can hold water and turn mouldy. Also late frosts an issue with establishment. Yes problems with dessication. The following winter wheat crop can be too late to drill as they can get harvested as late as December (if the birds haven’t eaten them first).
My biggest issue this year was trying to sell them.

The UK ones smell quite odd and I am not sure they would go into the oil market. Mostly for bird food.

 

[Exfarmer]

Have grown them twice. First time very succesfully. ideally a south facing field and not close to a wood for the pigeons to roost in. It is critical to keep them off the crop in the first 2-3 weeks.
wait for soil to warm I think mid may asa they Cannot take frost
Ideally use a precision drill.
if possible combine a phosphate fertiliser into the seed bed.
Pendimethalin pre em.
it is critical you get an even emergence and growth as you need a good stand of plants, otherwise you will get very large heads which will not ripen and hold a lot of water in them making harevest a nightmare.
The biggest problem is harvest. Ideally you want a sun flower header and these are few and far between in the Uk. You may be able to get the special finger extensions if you are lucky (but not worth it for five acres )and a bat reel is also ideal, ( have not seen one of these for 50 years ) as the tines will stab the heads and take them round and drop on the floor.
Most of these problems are eased by a good plant stand so a good seedbed is key.
We sourced our seed from George Burlinghams and the took the crop as well for bird seed

 

[theboytheboy]

I looked at harvesting the ones we did for pyo last year. (Only 5 acres). To use as seed for this year I put some more interesting varieties on which were bloody expensive!

There is no way we would have got them dry enough. We are on the South coast.

Spoke to someone locally who used to do it on a larger scale. They packed up due to the difficulty harvesting. They had adapted a combine header but still sounded like a real headache.

Sorry to pee on your cornflakes......best of luck.......but suspect there is a reason it's not a common crop here.

 

[Exfarmer]

We grew them when the subsidy situation favoured the crop but the return was not that good , from memory yiel;d was under 2 tonnes / Ha
i think if you get the establishment right from memory 100,000 per hectare and keep pesats at bay then they are not too bad for harvest in a half decent year, especially if you can get your hands on a header. It may be some like @Simon Chiles would know as i think he has grown them, may be wrong though

 

[Matthew Britton]

I seem to remember a friend in Kent tried some 10-12 years ago and at the time I recall seeing another field towards Maidstone with sunflowers. Only the one year though. Where in Kent are you?

 

[Farmer Roy]

what are you growing them for ?

to look pretty ?

as a cover or game crop ?

for birdseed or the confectionary market ?

as an oilseed ?

Ive grown heaps of sunnies on a large scale, my experiences are probably of no relevance to you, but it would be helpful to others to know your intended end use or markets . . .

 

[Ginger2022]

@Matthew Britton We're based down in Canterbury, the field we have has plenty of cover from the wind as I've been told the heads can be damaged in the wind.
@Farmer Roy We will be growing them for the bird food market. Is there something about getting the oil content right, or is this more of an issue for human consumption?

 

[Farmer Roy]

We grew them when the subsidy situation favoured the crop but the return was not that good , from memory yiel;d was under 2 tonnes / Ha
i think if you get the establishment right from memory 100,000 per hectare and keep pesats at bay then they are not too bad for harvest in a half decent year, especially if you can get your hands on a header. It may be some like @Simon Chiles would know as i think he has grown them, may be wrong though

we can grow 3 t / ha dryland, planted on 1m rows at a population of around 35,000 - 40,000 / ha, based on about 80% emergence

 

[Farmer Roy]

@Matthew Britton We're based down in Canterbury, the field we have has plenty of cover from the wind as I've been told the heads can be damaged in the wind.
@Farmer Roy We will be growing them for the bird food market. Is there something about getting the oil content right, or is this more of an issue for human consumption?

oil content is largely irrelevant to the birdseed or confectionery markets ( at least it is here )

the biggest criteria with the confectionery market is the size of the seed & how easily it is dehulled when processed . . .

oil content is only an issue or important if grown for the crushing / oil seed market,

 

[Farmer Roy]

When would you expect to harvest Sunflowers? Is it the lateness to ripen that makes them unattractive in UK .
How come Ukraine grows so many?

different climate & soils

 

[Matthew Britton]

@Matthew Britton We're based down in Canterbury, the field we have has plenty of cover from the wind as I've been told the heads can be damaged in the wind.
@Farmer Roy We will be growing them for the bird food market. Is there something about getting the oil content right, or is this more of an issue for human consumption?

So was I, if you want to pm me i might be able to put you in touch with some one who has tried it.

 

[ollie989898]

different climate & soils

Roy, are there post-emergent herbicides you can use in Aus for sunflowers? I know the USA has or maybe had clearfield sunflowers??

I was told by a couple of Americans that sunflowers are the number 1 crop for combine fires over in their country.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Roy, are there post-emergent herbicides you can use in Aus for sunflowers? I know the USA has or maybe had clearfield sunflowers??

I was told by a couple of Americans that sunflowers are the number 1 crop for combine fires over in their country.

pretty much the only post emergent options are for grass weed control.
We do have quite a few large, nasty & aggressive summer growing weeds which do present a problem with growing sunnies

chickpeas are probably the biggest cause of fires here, but yes, sunflowers are a major fire risk at harvest. The biggest issue is static electricity & the highly flammable dust, along with the fact that they are harvested at low ( 9 % ) moisture content. If stored for long at higher %, they can heat & spontaneously combust . . .
I personally know of quite a few fires caused by harvesting sunflowers. Due to static electricity, you will get fires starting on vertical body work panels. I know personally of 2 people who burnt holes through plastic fuel tanks in John Deere machines, due to static electricity & spot fires . . .

We always have a water tanker close to hand when harvesting them

 

[Farmer Roy]

 

[Farmer Roy]

 

[Farmer Roy]

A Sullivan or “head snatcher” reel, used instead of a bat or tyne / pick up reel, on a conventional header front, in conjunction with sunflower trays bolted to the knife / cutter bar section

 

[Kevtherev]

View attachment 1027805

Looks a picture

 

[Farmer Roy]

Looks a picture

last crop of sunnies I’ve grown, maybe 5 / 6 years ago

still an option in the future though

 

[yellow belly]

View attachment 1027807

Winter crop or summer crop

imho in the U.K. our climate does not suit
Sunflowers grain maize soya beans

we should concentrate on crops that suits our climate unfortunately regulations are preventing us from growing oil seed rape because of pests consequently the U.K. now imports half its rapeseed needs we were self sufficient a few years ago