Sunflowers

[Exfarmer]

Grew them twice in south Norfolk. First year fantastic, they were precision drilled with starter fertiliser. Very even plant near 100% stand. Ripened evenly and harvested with powerflow table with not many issues in a very dry back end.
about 1 tonne an acre sold for bird seed not exactly profitable.
second year to cut costs, actually the first years drilling was done with a prototype precision drill which had been aimed at the cereals market, ( Stanhay Dart). We drilled with a standard drill a cool wet period followed and the crop struggled. Again harvest was snatchy, the crop being thin developed very large heads which while pretty would not dry out. Fungal rots moved in and yield was about 250 kg per acre. Harvest was hampered by the large heads being stabbed by a conventional Reynolds reel and being thrown forward. If the reel was raised too high the crop fell forwards.
it is not a crop to be grown on a large scale by the faint hearted. It would massively benefit by having sunflower pans and a bat reel, neither were available at the time

 

[MrNoo]

I have always found them to a bit hit and miss, planted in game strips, some years it seems like every seed planted germinates and produces a plant and other years very few appear but they do look lovely. A lot of heads do tend to go moldy but then I leave them for feed so not really an issue.

 

[Kidds]

Grew a patch of pollenless variety (don’t stain the tablecloth) at 50p/head for cut flowers. Used to do well out of them in the farm shop.
Also sown some birdseed broadcast just for the fun of it. Very pretty but pointless.

 

[Spanish]

In Spain almost 1,000,000 hectares of sunflower are grown, and they are planted because it is a product with a spring cycle that helps a lot to eliminate weeds, it is also a very demanding crop in fertilizers, in fact it is almost never paid. its deep roots take advantage of the fertilizer that sank to lower layers in cereal crops. The trick is to get the right variety to sow, especially in terms of cycle. There are varieties that in 100 days are to harvest.
Auí is sown in mid-May and harvested in late September. Conventional sunflower is priced at about € 310 / tonne and the high oleic at € 380 / tonne with which with average productions of 1,500-1,700 kg / ha and knowing that only one cultivator pass must be plowed to sow it, € 50 / It has seed and 50 € / ha of harvester some benefit if it gives, you admire the following year the cultivation of wheat is sure to be good.

 

[Spanish]

This year in my area it is feared that there is no semill because only 20-30% of the planned cereal has been sown and how the least risk is to grow sunflower in summer the whole field will be full of yellow flowers, although the bank account in autumn it will be less bright

 

[Spanish]

Obviously all sunflower that is sown is for the production of oil, not for birds. In addition the seed is hybrid. A bag of 150,000 seeds costs about € 120. About 60,000 seeds are sown in each hectare

 

[Farmer Roy]

I think the reason all these people are finding sunflowers so difficult is because they are in the wrong climate . . .

 

[marshallfarm]

Mostly grown under fleece in south lincs

 

[czechmate]

I will say, they wheat now after this years sunnies looks very good, which for this autumn is a miracle

 

[glasshouse]

I think the reason all these people are finding sunflowers so difficult is because they are in the wrong climate . . .

Wrong climate but right market

 

[bobk]

It's a good break crop when you can't grow grass .

 

[Farmer Roy]

Obviously all sunflower that is sown is for the production of oil, not for birds. In addition the seed is hybrid. A bag of 150,000 seeds costs about € 120. About 60,000 seeds are sown in each hectare

in a dryland ( not irrigated ) scenario, we'd probably plant at about 40,000 / ha, or 4 seeds / m on 1m rows

 

[czechmate]

It's a good break crop when you can't grow grass .

Not sure I understand this Howard?
If you can’t grow grass then your really buggered

 

[bobk]

Not sure I understand this Howard?
If you can’t grow grass then your really buggered

I think grass is the best break crop
My cousin had a farm near the Belfry. he said it would not grow grass in a million years

 

[davidroberts30]

Any hints tips to combining sunflowers?
JD combine walker machine

 

[le bon paysan]

Any hints tips to combining sunflowers?
JD combine walker machine

945?

 

[steveR]

Grew a patch of pollenless variety (don’t stain the tablecloth) at 50p/head for cut flowers. Used to do well out of them in the farm shop.
Also sown some birdseed broadcast just for the fun of it. Very pretty but pointless.

I have put in and grown sunflowers in the Bumblebird and the Wild Bird mixtures, after getting some cheap bags of seed from Kevin @Great In Grass last winter. They are a pleasure to see right now, and the birds get well into them so quickly!

Pretty and sort of Pointless, however, they look good to an Inspector

 

[Courier]

Landward (Scottish equvalent of Countryfile) had someone growing gladioli, sunflowers etc on a pick your own / honesty box money coillection system 40p for a glad. stem and £1 per stem for a Sunflower.

 

[czechmate]

Any hints tips to combining sunflowers?
JD combine walker machine

you need the long pans on the front or more than half don’t make it

 

[Exfarmer]

itv you have a good crop it is not that bad , otherwise you really need pans but they are not normally available here.
Keep your reel so it only just touches them or it will take the lot over the top. A bat reel comes into its own in sunflower
wind nearly minimum as they are very light, but the rubbish is even lighter
Drive as hard as you can to try and catch them
if it is s poor catchy crop you will lose a huge amount