- Location
- Welshpool Powys
Precision drilled I take it?last crop of sunnies I’ve grown, maybe 5 / 6 years ago
still an option in the future though
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Precision drilled I take it?last crop of sunnies I’ve grown, maybe 5 / 6 years ago
still an option in the future though
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
Yes, alwaysPrecision drilled I take it?
I agree with you about maize, soy, sunflowers etc. I don’t think your climate is suitable eitherU.K. now imports half its rapeseed needs we were self sufficient a few years ago
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.
Use google chrome, go to settings and language and it will auto translate the whole page, just not pdf’sWeed control and end market are the main issues. There aren't really any post em herbicide options for BLW control, and limited pre-em options, so you need to chose fields with low/specific weed burden. In France they have specific varieties tolerant to SU and imazamox herbicides, but these varieties and product uses aren't in the UK.
If growing for PYO or mazes, you may make some ££, or if you can harvest and sell for bird seed. I'm not sure how easy it is to sell for oil, or what the quality is.
There is a lot of info from Arvalis in France for growing them, autonomy, seed density, harvest timing etc... all in French, but Google translate is your friend
100 day types?We have Clearfield and SU tolerant varieties over here in France including some "100 day" types that might be suitable for the UK. The real market for these types here is for second cropping after grass silage or even barley/winter peas etc . You need warmth though and a bit of luck to do this. A lot more will be trying it this year given the prices. If you don't cut them you can always say to the neighbours they were just a green manure.
Pre emergence on non herbicide tolerant types you could also use Butisan or Novall though probably not legal in UK.
yes100 day types?
Is that 100 days from planting to harvest?
Pioneer (amongst others) had a breeding program a few years back specifically looking at varieties for double cropping which they called "Alterna". The idea was to find sunflowers and maize varieties that matured fast enough to allow them to be planted after barley etc. I had a go about ten years ago when sunflower prices last went ballistic and might try again this year after silage though not barley, we are just a bit too late. We planted a pioneer variety (P62LL109) in late june and probably could have got them cut in early october if we hadn't been busy drilling cereals, we did harvest them eventually can't remember when and if my memory is correct we got about 1.2T/ha after the birds/wild boar etc all had a go at them.100 day types?
Is that 100 days from planting to harvest?
even with a fabricated Bat reel as you have, we did similar out of folded galvanised sheet, a Reynolds reel does not work the same and quickly can become very tangled if you are not careful. the action of the tines spinning ng 360 every turn of the reel ensures this. Oh for the days when we had 2 really for the old 726 though I can't remember the bat reel going on very oftenPioneer (amongst others) had a breeding program a few years back specifically looking at varieties for double cropping which they called "Alterna". The idea was to find sunflowers and maize varieties that matured fast enough to allow them to be planted after barley etc. I had a go about ten years ago when sunflower prices last went ballistic and might try again this year after silage though not barley, we are just a bit too late. We planted a pioneer variety (P62LL109) in late june and probably could have got them cut in early october if we hadn't been busy drilling cereals, we did harvest them eventually can't remember when and if my memory is correct we got about 1.2T/ha after the birds/wild boar etc all had a go at them.
May be pioneer might like someone to trial them in the UK? The problem you might find is that ultra early seed is selling out fast because everyone is on the band wagon this year.
Someone also mentioned a bat reel. It is possible to fashion a "home made" bat reel for sunflowers by removing every other tube on the reel and attaching some light weight planks to the tubes so they hang down and touch the tines. I'll look for a photo. We actually use strips of laminated fake wooden floor for this. The sort of clip together stuff. Its more flexible and lighter than wood.
Gas bangers going off all around us keeping the birds off and there isn’t the pigeon problems here that there are in Kent. I hope they do well for you. Keep us up to date.Thank you to everyone for your help on this. To keep everyone up to date, we have planted 5 acres and after some rain they have just started to sprout. I'll be watching the pigeons now!
crows will be the problemThank you to everyone for your help on this. To keep everyone up to date, we have planted 5 acres and after some rain they have just started to sprout. I'll be watching the pigeons now!
Next door have got a few flowers out already. I thought it was way too early and possibly this hot spell? The flowers are only about 100mm across at most.