The Sunflower Magazine - March/April 2012

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— FEATURES —Markets: It’s All About Weather & Yields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Oil sunflower market impacted by less bird seed demand

Herbicide-Tolerant Hybrids’ Big Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Clearfield & ExpressSun have saved a lot of sunflower acres

Is Sunflower a Good Fit for CRP Acres? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Lots of factors involved — including rotation and crop prices

Pustovoit Award Goes to Two USDA Scientists . . . . . . . . . 18Fargo-based researchers receive ISA’s top honor

Managing Sunflower Rust with Fungicides . . . . . . . . . . . . 22An update on university research results and recommendations

The Spitster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24North Dakota woman has the answer for ‘messy seed syndrome’

Sunflower Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

30 Years Ago in The Sunflower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

COVER — Photo: Don Lilleboe

Vol. 38 No. 3 IN THIS ISSUE March/April 2012

Page 10Page 18

Publisher —National Sunflower Associationwww.sunflowernsa.com

Editor — John Sandbakken

NSA Communications Director — Sonia Mullally

Contributing Writer/Editor — Don Lilleboe

Advertising Manager — Lerrene Kroh

The Sunflower is published six times peryear by the National Sunflower Association, afarmer and industry organization working toimprove the profitability of sunflower for allsectors. Farmer checkoff commissions/councils in N.D., S.D., Minn., Kan., and Colo.,make up NSA’s basic funding and governingstructure. Assessments on volume in theoilseed and confection processing industriesand the hybrid seed sector are key fundingcomponents as well. Other funding is fromgrants, including from the USDA ForeignAgricultural Service.

Offices for The Sunflower are located atNSA headquarters, 2401 46th Ave. S.E., Ste.206, Mandan, ND 58554. NSA & magazinephone number is (701) 328-5100; toll free(888) 718-7033.

U.S. farmers raising 10 or more acres ofsunflower, extension agents, and public re-searchers can receive The Sunflower at nocharge. Others may subscribe at theserates: North American residents, US $15.00for one year or US $40.00 for three years;overseas air mail, US $50.00 per year.

Information in The Sunflower does notnecessarily represent the views or policies ofthe National Sunflower Association. Nor doesadvertising in The Sunflower imply endorse-ment by the publisher.

Current NSA officers and directors are:Chairman

Don Schommer, Munich, N.D.President

Tom Young, Onida, S.D.First Vice President

Kevin Capistran, Crookston, Minn.Second Vice PresidentArt Ridl, Dickinson, N.D.Secretary/Treasurer

John Swanson, Mentor, MinnDirectors

Steve Arnhalt, Breckenridge, Minn.Brad Bonhorst, Fort Pierre, S.D.Guy Christensen, Enderlin, N.D.

Tim DeKrey, Steele, N.D.Karl Esping, Lindsborg, Kan.

Reginal Herman, Brinsmade, N.D.Kent McKay, Carpio, N.D.

John McLean, West Fargo, N.D.Jeff Oberholtzer, Mohall, N.D.Ron Seidel, Meadow, S.D.

Dean Sonnenberg, Fleming, Colo.Ben Vig, Sharon, N.D.

Arnold Woodbury, Wyndmere, N.D.Leon Zimbelman, Keenesburg, Colo.

Executive DirectorJohn Sandbakken, Mandan, N.D.

THE SUNFLOWER March/April 2012 3

Update on NSA SNP ProjectNational Sunflower Association personnel attended the recent

International Sunflower Conference in Argentina. Among othermeetings and seminars, promoting the NSA’s SNP project was apriority goal. Venki Pegadaraju of BioDiagnostics, Inc., was on theconference program to talk about the project. According toQuentin Schultz of BioDiagnostics, 2,526 SNP markers have beenassigned map location on the sunflower genetic map thus far. Ofspecific interest is the rust resistance gene that has been mapped.This marker is now available to consortium members for use intheir breeding efforts.

For more information on the SNP project and the consortium,contact Quentin Schultz of BioDiagnostics, Inc., at (715) 426-0246or NSA’s executive director, John Sandbakken, at 701-328-5102 [email protected].

NSA Board Funds 2012 Research ProjectsDuring its March meeting, the National Sunflower Association

Board of Directors approved funding for more than $226,000 to-ward research funding for 2012. Five projects related to diseaseissues (including rust, Phomopsis, downy mildew) were awarded atotal of $91,573. Two insect projects focusing on seed- and stem-infesting insect pests were granted $46,869. Two weed projectswere awarded a combined $34,000. One is a continuation of thework in palmer amaranth in the High Plains, and the other is workwith a new chemical agent in sunflower called pyroxasulfone. Inthe production category, which includes funding for the 2012 cropsurvey, total funds of $53,735 were awarded to seven projects.

Contributions by the High Plains Sunflower Committee, pri-vate seed companies, state checkoff councils/commissions andstate ag research funds were also a part of the overall sunflower re-search picture.

NSA Welcomes Arnhalt as New Board MemberSteve Arnhalt, general manager for all

sunflower operations at SunOpta, has joinedthe National Sunflower Association Boardof Directors. He was appointed to representthe confection industry and takes the seatpreviously held by Tim Egeland of Dahlgren& Company. Arnhalt, who has been in thesunflower industry for 14 years also cur-rently is a member of the NSA ConfectionCommittee.

Summer Seminar Set for June 26-28The National Sunflower Association’s 2012 Summer Seminar

is scheduled for June 26-28 at the Arrowwood Resort, Alexandria,Minn. This is the 30th year for the event.

The event begins in Tuesday with the NSA board meeting, reg-istration and evening dinner and fundraiser. The educational/infor-mational sessions begin early the next morning with paneldiscussions and keynote speakers. The NSA Gold Award will begiven out at this year’s noon luncheon. There will also be shortbreakout sessions that afternoon. Social event include the CurtStern Scholarship fundraiser, tour and dinner at the Carlos Creek

Sunflower Briefs

4 THE SUNFLOWER March/April 2012

Steve Arnhalt

Winery, and golf at the Atikwa Golf Course.A block of rooms for the seminar has been reserved at a dis-

counted rate for June 26-27 under the National Sunflower Associa-tion’s name. Call (866) 386-5263 or the hotel directly at (320)762-1124 to make your room reservations. The block will be re-leased by May 26.

Email Lerrene Kroh at [email protected] or call her at701-328-5107 for more information on the 2012 NSA SummerSeminar. Registration details are available soon on the NSA web-site, www.sunflowernsa.com.

Key Documents Now OnlineThe 2011 U.S. Sunflower Crop Quality Report and the 2011

Sunflower Crop Survey are now posted online at www.sunflow-ernsa.com. The crop quality report includes the final numbers forthe 2011 crop. A historical perspective dating back to 1999 is alsoavailable online. The document, produced annually by the NSA,contains useful information about the quality of the crop and statis-tics on marketing the crop.

The crop survey includes a final report by project leader Dr.Hans Kandel, extension agronomist with the NDSU Crop ScienceDepartment, Fargo, ND. Each fall, teams of surveyors take a tourof fields in sunflower producing states throughout the country andreport back. This information is then compiled into one compre-hensive report. Survey data are available dating back to 2002.

SURE Program May Pay Out for SunflowerThe 2011 growing season had its share of production problems.

Millions of acres were not planted because of wet conditions, andcrops that were seeded often suffered lower-than-normal yields.Many producers may receive some help through the federal Sup-

plemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) program. SUREis a program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’sFarm Service Agency. For sunflower, the marketing year is Sep-tember 1, 2011, through August 31, 2012.

A SURE Calculator program for 2011 is available throughNorth Dakota State University at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/farm-management/tools. The program will estimate payments that maybe made later this year.

There are several eligibility requirements for the SURE pro-gram. The producer must carry crop insurance on all crops unlessa crop has less than a 5% economic significance to the farm. Thefarm must be in or adjacent to a county that has a federal disaster,or else the farm must have had a 50% revenue shortfall. In addi-tion, the farm also must have a least one crop with a 10% revenueshortfall. �


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World oilseed markets were dominated during the first twomonths of 2012 by adverse weather in South America that re-

sulted in much smaller soybean production than anticipated at thestart of their growing season. Some analysts believe that final SouthAmerican soybean production could be as much as 18 million met-ric tons (660 million bushels) below early estimates.

That is a very significant reduction and has changed the overall

outlook for oilseed markets heading into the 2012/13 marketingyear. If a reduction of this magnitude is realized, it would representthe largest year-to-year drop ever in world soybean production. Soycomplex prices rose steadily in January and February, and that rallydragged canola and sunflower prices higher as well.

The lower drift in soybean production wasn’t the only bullishoilseed market factor. Logistical problems in Brazil created a verylarge backlog in vessel loadings that eventually pushed more soy-bean export business to the U.S. Also, China became a more activebuyer of oilseeds once its Lunar New Year celebrations were com-pleted. Soybean crushing margins in China have improved, and thathas prompted talk about better-than-expected demand.

The USDA also contributed to the bullish oilseed psychology. Atthe same time the market was turning more bullish about soybeans,analysts were turning very bearish on corn and other feed grains.The reason was that everyone expects U.S. farmers to plant at leasttwo million more acres of corn this year.

The USDA supported this idea when its initial 2012/13 supplyand demand estimates were released at the annual outlook confer-ence in mid-February. The USDA numbers showed big corn acrescoupled with a near-record yield. That combination would result ina doubling of U.S. corn ending supplies at the end of the next mar-keting year. The soybean numbers, however, actually showed end-ing supplies declining, based on a much better demand outlook — inpart because of smaller South American supplies.

The sunflower outlook is not necessarily supportive on its own.World production and supplies are up sharply from the previous

year. In addition, the U.S. bird seed market — which had been themajor support for oil sunflower over the last year — has declinedsharply because of the very mild winter that quelled demand for birdseed. There also is the potential for a big increase in canola acreagein Canada and sunfloweracreage in the United States.Demand for Canadiancanola has been very strong,and Canadian canola ex-ports will set a new recordthis year. There will be fourto five million acres to plantin North Dakota alone thisspring if the Northern Plains region stays on the dry side. That is alot of acres, and producers will be looking for crops to plant onthose acres.

The March 30th USDA planting intentions report will be veryimportant to market direction. Corn could still be king; but if soy-bean (and other oilseed) markets continue strong while feed grainprices soften, it could lead to some acreage shifts. Then it will be allabout weather and yields. Perfect weather and big yields will obvi-ously be bearish, but the markets need big yields.

Any hint of weather-related production issues will take marketsback to the 2011 highs. South American weather has already provento be uncooperative. How winter-planted crops emerge from dor-mancy across Europe and the Black Sea region will be the next im-portant market factor, followed, of course, by U.S. spring and earlysummer weather.

Producers should use this late-winter price strength as an oppor-tunity to complete sales of remaining 2011 crop inventory and getsome new-crop sales on the books. An early start to the springplanting season will be initially viewed as bearish. �


Mike Krueger is owner of The Money Farm, a Casselton,N.D.-based grain marketing consulting firm. While the information in this article is believed to be reliable, marketinginvolves risk, and the author and The Sunflower assume noresponsibility for its use.

There is the potential for a big increase in canolaacreage in Canada

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The advent of the Clearfield® productionsystem in 2003, together with the en-

trance of ExpressSun® hybrids in 2007,promised to be the latest and greatest in

sunflower growers’ ongoing battle in weedcontrol. Some sunflower breeders specu-late the technology eventually will be pres-ent in all new domestic market hybrids.

The technology likely helped saveacres that would otherwise have been lostdue to pesky broadleaf weed problems andutter frustration on the part of the grower.“We were in danger of losing major por-tions of the sunflower production regionsthat were backing out of sunflower be-cause of no weed protection,” observesBruce Due, agronomist with MycogenSeeds, whose company has offeredClearfield hybrids since the technology be-came available. “Growers were simplyhaving too great of yield loss and harvestproblems due to the weed issues.”

Kent McKay, BASF technical servicerepresentative, could not agree more. National Sunflower Association crop sur-veys indicated that common cocklebur,marshelder and wild sunflower were caus-ing major issues in both oil and confectionsunflower fields. “Having the Clearfieldtechnology definitely has helped keepthese significant weed problems controlled— and it shows in not only yield, but inseed quality” says McKay.

Due says it was about having optionsthat weren’t there before. Clearfield hitthe market and offered an avenue for post-emergent weed control and flexibility —not only at preplant, but to go in afterwardto control those later-emerging problems.Growers would no longer be losing yieldto overpowering weeds.

“The ExpressSun market share hasgrown every year since the introduction in2007-2008,” notes Bob Weigelt of DuPont.“A number of growers tell me they wouldnot be growing sunflower if they did nothave ExpressSun technology.”

Whether the grower uses Clearfield orExpressSun hybrids, with all new technol-ogy, there is a learning curve. As with anynew tool, it needs to be understood andused appropriately to be effective and re-duce herbicide resistance problems. Many

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recommendations surrounding these tech-nologies have been discussed in previousarticles in The Sunflower. Yet even afterseveral seasons and countless acres utiliz-ing the relatively new technology, there arestill issues worth examining.

Mother Nature always adapts. The her-bicide-tolerant hybrid is a tool — not

a complete weed control program in and ofitself. Nature tends to find ways to over-come. It’s important to use these herbi-cide-tolerant hybrids and their companionherbicides in combination with other her-

bicide modes of action and/or culturalmethods like crop rotation and even occa-sional tillage. Protecting this important

technology through good stewardshippractices will ensure that resistant weedsand diseases stay out of sunflower fieldsfor growers across the county.

• Be mindful of resistant weeds.Kochia, at one time almost completelycontrolled, continues to be the main ALS-resistant weed problem throughout thesunflower-producing geography. Using a“pre” product like sulfentrazone and/or uti-lization of glyphosate in a burndown passshould always be done as part of the over-all system. When it comes to kochia andother troubling weeds, there always needsto be a “Plan B.”

It can get tricky when it comes to ALSchemistries like the imidazolinones andsulfonylureas. Some kochia is susceptibleto both, some is resistant to IMIs but notSUs, some is resistant to SUs but not IMIs,and some is resistant to both.

North Dakota State University weedscientist Kirk Howatt says it’s importantfor each farmer to be aware of his ownweed populations — and which ones havedeveloped resistance. “In North Dakota es-pecially, you can pretty much expect atleast some of the plants in a field to haveALS resistance,” Howatt notes. “That’swhy it is crucial to incorporate multiplemethods of control, such as some form oftillage or applying a soil residual productwith the preplant burndown.” This mind-set extends beyond the sunflower season.Attack these difficult weed problems in agiven field in the years before sunflower isgrown there.

• Keep a close eye on wild sunflower.Mycogen’s Due says the technology isworking right now; but he’s concernedabout its longevity when considering wildsunflower as a major threat. “Wild sun-flower may be an alarm waiting to go off,”he says. “I see it in so many areas where itstarts out small and then quickly becomesa serious problem.”

Due and others in the weed sciencecommunity know that because nature al-ways wins over in the end, the herbicide-resistance technology is at risk. Even ifwild sunflower appears to be mild or con-fined to the perimeter of a field, it shouldbe dealt with in a timely manner. All ittakes is for adjacent wild sunflower tobloom and pollinate at the same time as thecommercial field for the risk of cross-polli-nation to become a very serious problem.The same would hold true for volunteersunflower.

Howatt adds that while wild sunflowermay not be a large weed issue in NorthDakota, it is more of an issue in Kansas,Nebraska and parts of South Dakota. So,growers in different production regionsneed to be mindful of the “problem weeds”in their particular area.

• Total control may not be possible. A


Protecting this important tech-nology through good steward-ship practices will ensure thatresistant weeds and diseasesstay out of sunflower fields for

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sunflower grower can now keep certainweeds at bay for the growing season, whilegreatly reducing weed seed production andthe spreading of a problem weed. Totalcontrol, though, needs to be kept in per-spective as part of a multi-year programapproach, utilizing materials likeglyphosate and clopyralid in rotationcrops. The herbicide-tolerant hybrid sys-tem can certainly be beneficial as part ofthe overall goal of weed population reduc-tion, while still being able to produce aprofitable crop like sunflower.

Howatt says diversity helps preservethe available weed control tools inClearfield and ExpressSun technology.Weed resistance to ALS and glyphosateherbicides typically develops independ-ently, so rotation of crops with differentherbicide-resistance technology could helpbreak up the cycle of weed resistance. “Topreserve the longevity of the technologybehind herbicide-resistant crops, whetherit’s ALS or glyphosate, the key is to com-bine modes of action on your overall her-bicide plan.” So take advantage of allweed control tools, whether they be seedtechnology, herbicide, tillage or cultural innature, he says.

Grower Perspectives

South central North Dakota growerJohn McCrory offers a unique perspectivesince he plants half of his 1,500 acres ofhigh-oleics into ExpressSun and the otherhalf with Clearfield varieties. He says theherbicide-tolerant hybrids have allowedhim the option of going in to get thoseweeds (e.g., kochia and marshelder) thatpop up mid-season and compete with thesunflower. The technology also providesbetter-than-expected control of the peskycocklebur. “The benefits of this technol-ogy greatly outweigh any drawbacks ifthere were any — and we haven’t foundany yet,” McCrory affirms.

Go a little further south to Chad VanderVorst’s farm near Strasburg, N.D., wherethey saw their best ’flowers in years in2011. He eased into ExpressSun hybridsstarting in 2009 with about half of hiscrop. That increased to three-fourths of hisacreage in 2010. The way the system ad-dressed the Canada thistle problems con-vinced Vander Vorst to go 100%ExpressSun in 2011 on his roughly 1,200acres. What sealed the deal was when thenewer ExpressSun hybrids also came withdowny mildew resistance, making themthe “total package” to meet his needs.

Growers pay close attention to theweed history of their fields in order totackle the known problems. Gary Knell,who farms near Hazen, N.D., switched toExpressSun hybrids three years ago. Areaswhere he would classify as “problem


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fields,” he deals with kochia,buckwheat and a variety ofbroadleaf weeds. “Our firstconcern was a possible yielddrag with the new technology.But it’s not a problem. We useit as our ‘insurance policy,’ ”Knell remarks. “We like theoption for mid-season applica-tion to take out the late-emerg-ing kochia.”

Northwestern NorthDakota grower Charlie Soren-son now plants all 500 of hisoil sunflower acres using theExpressSun technology. Backin 2009 he planted half hisacreage with ExpressSun hy-brids, hoping to see results —especially in dealing withkochia. “I used it on groundthat I normally wouldn’t growsunflower on because of theweed history,” Sorenson says.“We had kochia problems that[were] increasing on certain fields. Now, we no longer have toworry about those fields.” He adds that wild sunflower has alsobeen kept at bay and he’ll continue to use the ExpressSun hybridsas a “sort of insurance policy.”

Tom Bargen, who farms in southeastern Nebraska, has beengrowing sunflower for more than 20 years. His operation has beenstrictly no-till since the late 1980s, and he grows only non-GMO

crops. So his weed manage-ment needs are somewhatcomplex. Bargen manageshis weed issues withClearfield hybrids. He alsonotes an added bonus withClearfield — one which maynot be based in science, butrather with observation on hisacres: less pressure from theDectes (longhorned beetle)insect. “We don’t reallyknow why,” Bargen says.“What might be happening isthat with fewer weeds, wehave less host plants for thepesky bugs.”

Growers in varied regionsbenefit from the technologythat tackles a broad range ofweeds. Ron Meyer, ColoradoState University extensionagronomist based in Burling-ton, says that both theClearfield and ExpressSun

technologies have made a significant impact in the High Plains. Many things in agriculture cannot be controlled, but growers

must control the way they use this trait in order to preserve its in-tegrity and efficacy. As these technologies continue to evolve, thegrower should continue to benefit from companies offering new,fine-tuned ExpressSun and Clearfield varieties available for plant-ing each season. — Sonia Mullally �


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As the familiar saying goes, land is al-ways valuable because they aren’t

making any more of it. With the recent in-creases in commodity prices, farmers areeyeing land in the USDA’s ConservationReserve Program (CRP) with expiring con-tracts to be converted back to crop produc-tion. In many cases, this might makeeconomic sense. But there are a number offactors to consider.

About 30 million acres currently areenrolled in the CRP program — and con-tracts on an estimated 6.5 million acres willexpire on September 30, 2012. Nearly 3.5million of those acres are within the sevensunflower-producing states located in thecentral part of the country.

North Dakota will have the most landcoming out of the program with an esti-mated 838,223 acres, followed closely byTexas at 827,750 acres. Among other keysunflower production states, the acreagenumbers are: South Dakota — 224,863;Minnesota — 290,064; Kansas — 517,577;Colorado — 569,560; and Nebraska —201,309.

Each state’s situation may be different.In North Dakota, for instance, officials esti-mate that roughly 25% of the land with ex-piring CRP contracts in 2012 will bere-offered with land owners reapplying forthe program. And of those acres, not allwill be accepted. At one point in 2007, thestate had more than 3.3 million acres in

CRP. Once contracts expire this year, thetotal will likely be less than half thatamount statewide. So a vast amount ofland has come back into production overthe past five years.

“With high commodity prices, ourrental rates have not been able to keep upwith the land rental rates,” says JayHochhalter, state conservation specialistwith the North Dakota office of USDA’sFarm Service Agency. Renters are willingto pay higher rates than what the CRP pay-ments offer the land owner — and not justin North Dakota. Many other states alsohave renters willing to pay top dollar look-ing for land to farm.

With crop prices at high levels and de-mand for more cropland acres increasing,producers have the potential to benefitgreatly by bringing a significant amount ofland back into production. With contractsexpiring this fall, the land will be ready forproduction for the 2013 crop year.

Will sunflower have a shot at gainingany of these acres?

Farmers say it would depend on a num-ber of factors, including rotation andprices. It also would depend on the condi-tion of the land pertaining to the reason itwent into CRP in the first place.

Byron Richard, a western North Dakotafarmer who has broken up thousands ofacres of CRP land, says he has tried sun-

flower on some of those acres with a greatdeal of success. He says success is de-pendent on the prep work regarding burn-down. Another reason he likes sunflowerin CRP ground is the option for a post-plantapplication for grass control.

“One of our main problems was proba-bly getting all that alfalfa out of there,”Richard explains. “But we go in with ahigh rate of glyphosate – around twoquarts. We do a good summer burndown inJune, and, thanks to the leftover root sys-tem, there’s good moisture retention overthe next several months.”

Hans Kandel, North Dakota State Uni-versity extension agronomist, says sun-flower would be a good fit for land comingout of CRP. He, like Richard, says it boilsdown to the preparation work that lays thefoundation for success.

Probably the most important factorwhen going onto CRP ground is for thefarmer to ask, “Why was this piece of landput into CRP?” If the land was placed intoCRP because it was subpar, then it willprobably still have those same problems.So any particular problem initially willneed to be addressed as that land is con-verted back into production.

Once the background of the land is un-derstood, current issues can better be dealtwith moving forward. Kandel was a con-tributing author on a publication releasedby the NDSU Extension Service in June of2008 titled, Bringing Land in the Conser-vation Reserve Program Back Into CropProduction or Grazing. The publication isonline at: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/crops/a1364.pdf.

It’s important to note, the publicationstates, how sunflower fits with the threemajor agronomic factors that should beconsidered when deciding on which cropwould be the best fit after CRP. They are:


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(1) residue, (2) weed control and (3) soilwater. The publication offers a concisesynopsis of the pros and cons associatedwith different crops considered on CRPacres. The pros associated with sunflowerare: (1) It allows time for spring weed con-trol. (2) Planting is later, compared withother crops. (3) It is not susceptible tograss diseases. (4) It is a deep-rooted crop.

• Spring Weed Control — Since mostCRP land has a grass cover crop, Kandelrecommends seeding a broadleaf crop likesunflower because there are more optionsfor controlling grassy weeds. Sunflowerwith Clearfield® or ExpressSun® traitswould be the best option in this case. Pre-treating this ground with a fall application

of glyphosate and a repeat application inthe spring is recommended to kill the topgrowth prior to planting. Postemergentgrass herbicides offer better control of vol-unteer CRP grasses during the growing sea-son.

• Later Planting — Cool soil temper-atures are associated with heavy residue.Since sunflower is planted later in the sea-son, the soil would have a chance to warmup. A later planting date would also allowsufficient time to apply a glyphosate burn-down in the spring prior to planting.

• Not Susceptible to Grass Diseases— As a broadleaf, sunflower would not beprone to grass diseases that could be pres-ent in CRP.

• Deep Rooted — In the fall, soils inCRP ground generally have low levels ofstored moisture because the establishedplants (mostly grasses) have been usingsoil water during the growing season.Even though sunflower has a high water re-quirement, it has a deep root system thatwill make use of the soil profile moisture.

Kandel says probably the number oneissue with sunflower will be the diffi-

culty farmers may have in establishing agood plant stand in heavy residue on CRPacres. The sunflower crop survey that hecoordinates each year has pointed towardinadequate plant stand as the number oneyield-limiting factor. “This is, in my mind,the key issue,” he says. “From the survey,we know that plant stand within the rowand plant population are major productionissues. Having a lot of residue will in-crease the risk of planting seeds that willnot be able to germinate.”

This is an important factor when con-sidering tillage methods on CRP acres.While conventional tillage may look attrac-tive to battle weeds and heavy residue, thisis not ideal, for many reasons. Tillage willpromote erosion — which is quite possiblythe reason the land was placed into the con-servation program in the first place. Fulltillage would help warm up the soil; but itlikely would also result in a considerablereduction in soil moisture, which is neededfor optimal crop growth.

Byron Richard adds that with the ad-vent of vertical tillage, he has had no prob-lem establishing a good sunflower standdespite the heavy residue in the CRP acres.“The vertical tillage has changed things, al-lowing us to manipulate the residue with-out degrading the soil,” he says. “With thismethod, we’ve been able to come in with ahoe drill or planter with no problem gettingour sunflower planted. And we’ve endedup with average to above-average yields.”

Each crop brings advantages and disad-vantages when it comes to a choice for

CRP acres. The cons associated with nu-merous crops, including sunflower, are: fer-tilizer requirements, soil insects andperennial broadleaf weeds.

• Fertilizer requirements — Withnearly every crop going into CRP acres,fertilizer needs are of great importance.While sunflower is known for its taprootgoing after soil nutrients deep in the soilprofile, the existing grasses also have longroots that are able to mine the nutrients.Nitrogen almost certainly will be low —and, with the high levels of residue withhigh carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, will be re-leased more slowly than when following acrop without added N. “With no nitrogenhaving been applied in maybe 10 years ormore on CRP ground, a farmer will typi-


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ColoradoKansasMinnesotaNebraskaNorth DakotaSouth DakotaTexas

Seven-State Total

2012569,560517,577290,064201,309838,223224,863827,750

3,469,346

2013222,775213,441129,69696,884257,885106,024362,269

1,388,974

201493,714120,559207,23472,106146,85970,747170,158881,377

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cally see low levels in the soil,” Kandel ex-plains. “Fertilization will need to takeplace.”

This is why a soil test is a must, withapplication of NPK likely required on mostfields. “Producers could go back to pre-CRP records and see what soil fertility is-sues there were at that time,” Kandel states.“These same issues will still be there.Most nutrients that were available wereprobably used by the CRP vegetation.”

The 2008 NDSU publication recom-mended that farmers consider adding 20 to25% more N than to normal cropland.Phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) levelsare not likely to be reduced substantiallyfrom that before the land was placed inCRP, as there has been little removal byharvesting a crop. But the nutrients maynot be readily available to the crop plantedafter breakup of CRP.

The guide goes on to state that if theCRP was hayed during drought years, sig-nificant P and K removal may have re-sulted from forage removal. Applyingsufficient N for a crop like sunflower canbe a challenge when no-till is used becausethe needed rate will be high and surface ap-plications are not recommended due to thehigh risk of loss through volatilization.

• Insects — When it comes to insects,as with any sunflower ground, scouting andwatchful diligence are the best forms of de-fense. Broadspectrum insecticides are rec-ommended to control pests.

• Broadleaf Weeds — While grassesare of greatest concern in CRP, broadleafweeds are also a problem — especiallyearly in plant establishment. Cultivationalone will not give satisfactory control ofCRP vegetation. Herbicide application inthe fall and spring should also combatthese weeds. For a good source for infor-mation on herbicides for sunflower to killweeds in CRP, see the NDSU weed sciencedocument: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/weeds/weed-control-guides/nd-weed-control-guide-1/wcg-files/6-Snfl.pdf/view.

While making plans for the switch fromCRP back into cropland, it’s important torecognize that there will be a yield drag asthe land is coming into production. Kandelcautions growers to be aware that they willnot get 100% of their potential yield; sowhen doing cash flow projections, thisshould be a consideration.

Transitioning land that has been idle inCRP — even if it was hayed or seeded witha cover crop — is similar to breaking upthe prairie. There is no easy answer to thequestion of the best way to do it. Each sit-uation will come down to the farming sys-tem utilized in each operation and themoisture conditions of the soil at the time.

Not all states are in the same boat whenit comes to land conditions and moisturelevels. In Northern Plains states, as well as

Kansas and Nebraska, rental rates havespiked recently from farmers eager to de-velop more land and take advantage of thehigh commodity prices. In those states,renters are lining up to take over land, andlandowners will not be as likely to attemptto re-enroll their land into CRP.

However, in states like Texas and Okla-homa, where drought conditions are severe,renters aren’t as willing to take the risk andpay more for land rent than the CRP pro-gram offers. In these states, landownersmay re-apply to the CRP program and not

be as motivated to put land back into pro-duction due to the dry conditions.

Whatever the situation, one of the goalsshould be preserving as much organic mat-ter as possible for the overall health of thesoil. Farming practices have come a longway since much of this land went into theCRP program. Thanks to the managementpractices noted above and the refinement ofno-till and minimum-till practices, farmersare better equipped to maximize acres com-ing out of the program than ever before. —Sonia Mullally �


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Two scientists with the USDA-ARSSunflower and Plant Biology Research

Unit at Fargo, N.D., received the Interna-tional Sunflower Association’s highestaward on February 29. Cytogeneticist C.C.Jan and research botanist Gerald Seilerwere honored with the V.S. PustovoitAward during the 18th International Sun-flower Conference held in Mar del Plata,Argentina.

Three others also received the PustovoitAward in Mar del Plata: Juan Dominguiz ofSpain, Mihail Christov of Bulgaria andAndre Pouzet of France.

The Pustovoit Award, named afterrenowned Russian sunflower breeder V.S.Pustovoit, is conferred upon individualswho have made major contributions to thescientific and/or technological advance-ment of the global sunflower industry.

This is the first time two individuals fromthe same country (much less the same re-search unit) have been honored in the sameyear. Prior to 2012, only 29 scientists hadreceived a Pustovoit since its inception in1980. Among them were five Americans(Murray Kinman, Charles Heiser, GerhardtFick, Florin Stoenescu and Jerry Miller)and two Canadians (Eric Putt and Walde-mar Sackston).

Jan received his B.S. degree in Taiwanand his M.S. in agronomy and Ph.D. in ge-netics from the University of California-Davis. He began working with theUSDA-ARS Davis group in 1981 in thenewly created position of sunflower cyto-geneticist. The Davis sunflower unit wasclosed in 1984, at which time Jan relocatedto Fargo.

Jan has worked extensively to developsystems by which desirable traits from wildsunflower species can be transferred intocultivated lines. It’s a very challengingprocess, complicated by the extreme diver-sity of the Helianthus (sunflower) genus.There are 52 different sunflower species —14 annual and 38 perennial. Some arediploids, some are tetraploids, and othersare hexaploids. Getting them to cross witheach other is an often-daunting propositionrequiring novel, complex approaches.

Among Jan’s current major objectivesare interspecific gene transfer and the char-acterization and mapping of genes for dis-ease resistance and agronomic traits. He isvery involved in the effort to develop dou-bled-haploid sunflower and in gene transferfor Sclerotinia resistance.

Seiler, a Wells County, N.D., native,earned B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees inbotany from North Dakota State Univer-sity. He made his first wild sunflowerspecies collection trip while a graduate stu-dent at NDSU in the early 1970s. Severalyears later, in 1980, he joined the USDA-ARS Sunflower Research Unit at Bush-land, Texas, as a research botanist, workingon the collection and use of wild sunflowerspecies for improvement of the cultivatedcrop. When the Bushland sunflower pro-gram closed in 1988, Seiler moved back toNorth Dakota and joined the ARS Fargounit.

An internationally recognized authorityon wild sunflower species, Seiler was in-strumental in developing the wild sun-flower germplasm collection for theUSDA-ARS National Plant GermplasmSystem. During the past 35 years, he hasparticipated in 25 explorations for wildsunflower species in the United States,Canada, Argentina and Australia. His ex-plorations have contributed about 1,500 ac-cessions to the collection. Seiler hasauthored more than 300 scientific publica-tions, including 13 book chapters and co-authorship of two books: Sunflower

Pustovoit Award Goes To Two USDA Scientists

C.C. Jan & Gerald Seiler ReceiveInternational Association’s Top Honor


C.C. Jan (left) and Gerald Seiler of the USDA-ARS Sunflower and Plant

Biology Research Unit hold the V.S. Pustovoit Award that each

received during the recent International Sunflower Conference.

Photo: Don Lilleboe

Species of the United States and Genetics,Genomics, and Breeding of Sunflower.

During his career, Seiler has developedand released 60 interspecific sunflowergermplasms derived from 12 annual andfive perennial species. As a group, thosegermplasms have incorporated genes forsalt tolerance, resistance to all known racesof downy mildew, and resistance genes forall North American races of rust. Overall,

the goal of his work has been to increasethe genetic diversity of cultivated sun-flower through the incorporation of usefultraits from the wilds — be it disease resist-ance, insect tolerance, drought tolerance ora broad range of other characteristics.

Both Jan and Seiler express appreciationfor the recognition of their contribu-

tions to sunflower science and to the indus-

try in general. “But I consider [the Pus-tovoit] a ‘group award,’ because we don’tdo anything alone,” Seiler stresses. “Wehave stakeholders and partners who allwork together.” Among those partners, Janand Seiler note, are their colleagues withinthe ARS sunflower group, including plantpathologist Tom Gulya, geneticist BrentHulke, entomologist Jarrad Prasifka andmolecular geneticist Lili Qi, to name a few.

“We do our job as best we can, and weenjoy our work,” Jan says. “But the recog-nition [is gratifying]. It’s a confirmation ofwhat we have accomplished.”

The small group of people who work inbasic research involving wild sunflowerspecies often seem quite removed from thefinal product — i.e., better hybrids for thefarmer — Seiler and Jan affirm. “It’s likemaking sausage,” Seiler illustrates with anonscientific analogy. “You’re stuffing inthe ingredients at one end, but the sausageonly comes out at the other — and that’swhere the commercial breeder is.” Butthose ingredients at the front end are criti-cal to the quality of the finished product, hepoints out.

“We always view this (the ARS work)as a ‘basic’ program where we do the genediscovery and put it into some kind of cul-tivated background,” he continues. “Thecommercial breeders take the released ma-terial and put it into their own best mate-rial. They’re interested in a certain trait.

“But unfortunately, there are a lot ofother traits that come along with that de-sired trait — traits that we call ‘excessivebaggage.’ This is where the technologygoing forward (e.g., molecular markers)will be more efficient. We’ll spend lesstime trying to get rid of the traits we don’twant — and focus more on what we dowant.”

“We are providing the raw material forthe commercial breeders,” Jan summarizes.“They can refine it, put it into their ownbackground and develop a product.” Thatfinal product — an improved sunflower hy-brid — is what ultimately benefits thefarmer and the overall sunflower industry.— Don Lilleboe �


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The Problem

Sunflower rust has become a commontopic of conversation for producers in

recent years. Prior to 2008, rust usually ap-peared in North Dakota during the late re-productive stages of sunflowerdevelopment and in severities rarely result-ing in economic damage.

During the 2008 growing season, how-ever, the sexual recombination stage for thepathogen (yellow-orange aecial cup) wasdetected and disease onset occurred earlierthan normal, i.e., in late June. The effectsof this event were two-fold: (1) the sexualrecombination stage may have signaled theonset of new race development in the state,and (2) the early onset of cinnamon-brownpustules (uredinia) resulted in substantialyield loss in localized areas in NorthDakota.

New race development could make re-

sistant hybrids vulnerable to sunflowerrust, and the early development of rust caninitiate multiple cycles of spore productioncausing several plant infections. Recogniz-ing the importance of the situation in 2008,sunflower growers applied fungicides toprotect against yield loss. Additionally,fungicide efficacy and timing trials wereinitiated to provide answers on rust man-agement and in an attempt to develop athreshold for applications.

The Response

For the past four years, North DakotaState University and the University of Ne-braska have conducted a series of fungicidetrials. With the help of both universities’research extension centers, Cenex HarvestStates (CHS) and USDA-ARS, a total of 22trials were conducted in the last four years.In 2008 and 2009, trials were designed todetermine the best fungicide and fungicidetiming when rust onset occurred “nor-mally” (early August). To investigate this,two types of trials were conducted: (1) tim-ing trials, which were designed to deter-mine the best spray timing, and (2)evaluation trials, which were designed todetermine which fungicide(s) worked best.

In the timing trials, two fungicides(Headline® and Tebuzol®) were applied sin-gularly and/or in sequence at R3.5-4, R5.2-5.5 and R6 sunflower growth stages(equating to bud opening, early bloom andlate flowering, respectively). In the fungi-cide evaluation trials, six to 11 fungicideswere tested at R5.

The 2010 and 2011 trials focused onmanagement of rust during early diseaseonsets in early reproductive stages. Fungi-cides were evaluated at V8-12, R1, and R5(eight- to 12-true-leaf stage, bud formationand early flowering, respectively) in singu-lar or sequential applications. Additionally,spraying programs were constructed rotat-ing fungicide chemistries at R1 and R5 ap-plications.

Trials were completed at the NDSU re-search extension centers in Langdon andCarrington, as well as in Bottineau, N.D.(former Vision Research Park), Casselton,N.D. (Cenex Harvest States), Grandin,N.D. (Cenex Harvest States), and Scotts-bluff, Neb. Most trials were artificially in-oculated with rust to facilitate diseasepressure. Disease was evaluated as the av-erage percent leaf area covered by pustules,with the aid of assessment diagrams foundin the North Dakota State University Ex-tension publication “Sunflower Rust.”

The Results

Results of the 2008 and 2009 trials pro-duced a reoccurring theme: the timing of afungicide application was more importantthan the type of fungicide used. Both la-beled fungicide chemistries (strobilurinsand triazoles) were equally effective in re-ducing disease.

With regard to fungicide timing, appli-cations made at R5.0-5.9 (bloom) whenpustule coverage on the upper four leaveswas about 1% resulted in lower disease andprotected both yield and test weight losswhen compared to non-treated controlplots. Additionally, data indicated that sin-gle fungicide applications at R5.0-5.9 oftenresulted in disease values statistically thesame to multiple applications of fungicides.Some locations suggest that applicationsmade at R6 do not significantly reduce dis-ease pressure and therefore may be cost in-efficient.

In the 2010 and 2011 trials, diseasepressure was apparent early in the growingseason, but it did not reach high severitylevels at season’s end. However, more in-formation was obtained in regard to timingof fungicide applications. In agreementwith 2008 and 2009 data, the R5 growthstage was important for fungicide applica-tion. Some trials demonstrated a singular


* Andrew Friskop is a Ph.D. candidatein plant pathology at North DakotaState University. Sam Markell is NDSUextension plant pathologist. RobertHarveson is plant pathologist with theUniversity of Nebraska at Scottsbluff.

Managing Sunflower

Rust With FungicidesBy Andrew Friskop, Sam Markell & Robert Harveson*

Left: A sunflower plant leaf with a rustseverity rating of 1%.

Pho

to: A

ndre

w F

risko

p

application at V8-12 was less effective atmanaging disease than later applications.When sequential applications of differentfungicide chemistries (spraying programs)were used, disease pressure was lower thanthat of the non-treated control plot, but sta-tistically the same to each other.

In general, our data showed that whenrust is present, a well-timed fungicide ap-plication limited disease progression; andwhen severity was high enough to damagethe crop, that same well-timed applicationoften protected both yield and test weight.

Yield and test weight increases werenot observed in all 22 trials, of course; butunder the right conditions, it is clear thatfungicides worked very well. Figure 1(below) is an example of a tebuconazoleapplication being made when rust severityapproached 1% at R5, and disease severity,yield loss and test weight loss were all lim-ited. This trend was also observed forother fungicides applied at this time.

New Management Recommendations

Fungicide work conducted in Israelduring the 1990s determined a fungicide

action threshold of 3% rust severity on theupper four leaves at mid-R5. However,these trials were conducted in a sunflowergrowing region vastly different from theNorthern Great Plains.

Prior to 2008, specific sunflower rustfungicide recommendations for U.S. grow-ing regions were not well defined. Ourdata support a fungicide action threshold at1% severity on the upper four leaves atR5.0-5.9. It should be noted that if rustseverity is at or above 1% on the upperfour leaves before R5, multiple fungicideapplications may be warranted and arelikely suggested. Additionally, the 2008epidemic signaled the labeling of anotherfungicide chemistry: tebuconazole.

When it comes to managing sunflowerrust, both long-term and short-term goalsare needed. The long-term goal is usingrust-resistant hybrids. Host resistance isoften the cost-effective way of managingdisease, but it may not always be available.The short-term goal is using fungicides ap-propriately. As indicated in 2008, fungi-cides serve as a very importantmanagement tool for sunflower growers.

Rust infections vary from year to yearand are unpredictable. But a few importantguidelines can be followed in a rust year:

• If rust is detected early in the grow-ing season, producers should scout theirfields to observe the canopy location ofrust.

• Special attention should be given tothe upper four leaves of the sunflower plantwith respect to growth stage.

• Being aware of the rust progressionin a field will determine the opportune timeto make a fungicide application. �

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank theNDSU Langdon Research Extension Cen-ter, NDSU Carrington Research ExtensionCenter and Cenex Harvest States for allo-cating field space for the fungicide trials.Special thanks are given to Scott Halley(LREC), Kevin Misek (LREC), MichaelWunsch (CREC), Blaine Schatz (CREC),Paul Hendrickson (CREC) and Joel Schae-fer (CHS) for their collaborative efforts.The authors would also like to thank theNational Sunflower Association, the NorthDakota Department of Agriculture – MinorUse Fund, and the North Dakota StateBoard of Agriculture Research and Educa-tion (SBARE) for funding.


1544 b 1685 b

2131 a

1577 b

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e

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CREC 2009 - Yield

20.4 b 21.3 b 22.91 a

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CREC 2009 - Disease Progression - Rust Severity

Non-treated Control

Tebuconazole (4 oz) @ R4

Tebuconazole (4 oz) @ R5.5

Tebuconazole (4 oz) @ R6

Figure 1: Carrington REC - Disease Progression - Rust Severity, 2009

The Spitster is a solution for anyone whohas ever said, “I’d eat more sunflower

seeds if they weren’t so messy.” Mary Bjerke, the product creator, sells it

as “Two Cups In One, For Your Snack Eat-ing Fun.”

The idea for “The Spitster” can betraced back to 1999. Over the past 13years, Bjerke has been on the roller coasterride of entrepreneurism. The Fargo, N.D.,resident says that developing a product ideahas been trying and rewarding at the sametime.

Starting out, she had four kids to raiseand a full-time job in the insurance busi-ness, allowing little time to work on herproduct. Then, a cancer diagnosis in 2003put everything on hold. A few years later,when she was ready to get back at it, shesought help from Reuben Tschritter of theInstitute for Business and Industry Devel-opment at North Dakota State University.Together, they developed a working proto-type and applied for the product patent.

Another setback came when her cancerreoccurred in 2010. But Bjerke says she isnow on track, stronger than ever, marketingand promoting her invention. She will retirefrom her “day job” this summer and focuson bringing the success of her product to awhole new level. — Sonia Mullally

Can you describe your product and how itworks?

The Spitster consists of two cups in one.One fits inside the other for storage whennot in use. You simply fill the larger cupwith seeds, connect the two cups togetherby putting the peg into the hole of thesmaller cup and closing the lid. For addedconvenience, the cup fits into most car cupholders. When ready to use, simply pull thetwo cups apart, spin the smaller bottom cup180 degrees and put the cups together again(the peg goes into the hole in a piggy backfashion).

Or, the two cups can be used separately.The larger cup can hold about six ounces ofseeds. The smaller cup can be used for dis-carded shells. It’s washable and reusable.The Spitster comes in a variety of colorsand can be customized with a private labelor logo for company, sports team or smallbusiness promotions or giveaways.

Why the focus on sunflower?

I used to travel regularly to and fromMinneapolis and eat seeds while driving. Iwould end up spilling my bag of seeds allover the car or forget to bring an empty cupfor the discarded shells. Since I enjoy seedswhile I drive but don’t enjoy the mess, I fig-ured there should be a better way.


Photo: Gregory Locnikar

North Dakota Woman Develops Solution For All Those Who Love Eating In-Shell Sunflower Seeds — Without the Mess

Explain where you got the idea?

The idea for “The Spitster” started in 1999 out of a personal de-sire to make eating sunflower seeds easy and mess free. My firstprototype consisted of two soup cans connected by a hinge.

Do you get a lot of feedback from sunflower seed eaters?

I hear a lot of comments at the trade shows that I attend. I heara variety of comments — from a grandmother buying one for eachof her 20 grandchildren, to the wife buying it for her husband (orvice versa) with the hopes that the car will stay clean and free ofsunflower seeds.

From this face-to-face interaction with my customers, I realizethat people use it for more than sunflower seeds. They use it forcandy and discarded wrappers, French fries and ketchup, pistachiosor peanuts and shells, just to name a few.

Not only do I believe in the product, but what makes selling itenjoyable is that it’s also affordable. I hear so many favorablecomments, including the usual, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

The product has also been a popular gift, with many repeat cus-tomers.

What were/are some of the ups and downs on the journey market-ing the Spitster?

The journey has been long with many trials and tribulations, butit’s all worth it when I encounter enthusiastic buyers and repeatcustomers. Some of the challenges have been the time restraints(waiting two and a half years for the patent, for example), the costassociated with developing the prototype, and finding the right mar-keting strategies.

Looking back, I might have done some things differently. Butnow that we’ve developed the product and the promotion is comingalong, it’s turned into a dream come true, owning my own businessand loving what I do, selling my own invention.

Where is your product available?

The Spitster is currently manufactured in Minot, N.D. It is onsale at several different retail locations around the Dakotas andMinnesota, at various trade shows throughout the region as sched-uled, and on our website at www.TheSpitster.com.

The product will also soon be available at Amazon.com. TheSpitster sells for $6 each or two for $10. Multi-packs can also bepurchased at five for $20.

For more information on the product, visit www.TheSpitster.com.It can also be found on Twitter and Facebook. �


Photo: Gregory Locnikar

Mary Bjerke

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Editorial Comments / Don Lilleboe — “Farmers reading thismagazine don’t have to be told about the ‘cost-price’ squeeze.’They’ve been feeling the pinch for some time now, and it doesn’tshow signs of letting up soon. Production costs continue to risewhile commodity prices lag behind.

“It’s not the best of times for U.S. sunflower crushers either. Asof this writing, the major crushers here in the Upper Midwest havetemporarily shut down. And some of them are saying that except tofulfill current sales commitments, they may not open their doorsagain until the new crop comes off this fall. . . .

“[The] domestic crusher is faced with four conditions which aremaking his life difficult right now: (1) the comparatively short sup-ply and high price of sunflower seed (try telling a grower his seed istoo high priced . . .); (2) a glut of soybean and cottonseed oils avail-able at very cheap prices; (3) a European crushing industry whichimposes a 10 percent duty on imported sun oil but none on seed; and(4) a subsidized Argentine crushing industry which can sell sun oilinto foreign markets at roughly $110 a metric ton under what Ameri-can crushers can offer right now.

“The bottom line is that U.S. sun oil, [compared to] major com-petitors for domestic and foreign sales, has become too expensive(or its competitors are too cheap, the result’s the same either way).”

Plant Sunflower With a Drill? / Don Lilleboe — “Thoughyou’ve likely heard it before, Earl Rott will tell you again: it’s notessential to use a row crop planter to put in your sunflower. And his

is the voice of experience. Rott, who farms near the north centralSouth Dakota community of Leola, will be drilling his seventh sun-flower crop this spring. . . .

“Utilizing already-owned equipment is the primary reason Rottfeels the use of a grain drill is justified when seeding sunflower —that plus the fact that it does the job. Rott, who seeds with a 28-footMelroe drill with six-inch spacings, feels he gets very adequate in-row spacing and seed placement. He’ll plug up four holes and leavethe fifth open (end holes are closed), resulting in row spacings ofabout 28 inches and a per acre population of around 17,-18,000.

“Rott feels his brand of drill may be a bit more conducive forplanting flowers than some others. ‘We’ve just got a seed wheel,and the way you control the seeding rate is by simply speeding up orslowing down this wheel,’ he states. [His model drill] has threetypes of seed wheels: coarse, medium or fine. Rott feels themedium works best for planting sunflower seeds. He prefers to stayaway from size five seed, but all others work quite well for him. . . .

“ ‘For dryland areas such as the central and western Dakotas, Ithink drills will work quite well for most people planting sun-flower,’ Earl Rott remarks, concurring that while some may want totry solid-seeded flowers, he’s quite satisfied to be drilling in rows.‘When done correctly, you’re getting the seed down right, firmingthe soil well, and you don’t have to go out and buy another line ofequipment.’ ”

This Agronomist Likes No-Till / Don Lilleboe — “No-till sun-flower has a convert in Dr. Steve Miller, North Dakota State Univer-sity agronomist. Miller began studying sunflower grown under ano-till cropping system in 1976 and, at that time, was admittedlysomewhat of a skeptic.

“Five years of research data and general field observations havealtered his view of no-till, however. ‘The more I see crops on no-tilland how well they respond, it definitely convinces me that you cangrow very good crops without tillage,’ he remarks. ‘I wasn’t verypro no-till when I started (researching), but I’m becoming more soall the time.’

“Yield maintenance is one reason for Miller’s positive attitude.He has conducted field trials at Fargo, N.D., for five years, compar-ing yields of no-till versus conventionally tilled sunflower in awheat/sunflower/wheat/sunflower rotation schedule. What he’sfound is that the no-till plots averaged eight percent higher yieldsthan the conventional tillage plots. The mean for the five years ofno-till was 1,590 pounds, compared to an average of 1,470 poundsper acre on the conventional.

“Miller cautions that these averages were attained under weed-free conditions. . . . Also, the plots have basically been fertilized tothe maximum levels so that fertility in either situation wasn’t goingto be a problem. The bottom line to his results, though, is thatyields can be maintained under a continuous system of no-till.

“The limited arsenal of registered herbicides is the main hin-drance to no-till sunflower production right now, according toMiller. . . . ‘If a grower is seriously considering going no-till in sun-flower, I would suggest that he go on some of his cleanest fields,’Miller advises. ‘He should do as good a job as possible of control-ling the weeds in the previous crop, because we really don’t have alot of registered options right now.’ ”

Television Show Produced by Nat’l Association — “ ‘TheSunflower Story II,’ a half-hour program produced by the NationalSunflower Association in cooperation with Ag USA Productions ofPacific Palisades, Calif., is being shown on a number of televisionstations around the nation this winter and spring.

“This program, which emphasizes the qualities and uses of sun-flower and its products, is the second sunflower program producedthrough Ag USA. The first, produced in late 1980, gave a generaloverview of the sunflower industry and introduced ways of utilizingsun products.” �


30 Years AgoExcerpts from the March 1982

Issue of The Sunflower

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DuPont™, Express®, ExpressSun® and TotalSol® are trademarks or registered trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates.® NuSun is a registered certification mark of the National Sunflower Association.®, TM, SM Trademarks and service marks of Pioneer Hi-Bred. All purchases are subject to the terms of labeling and purchase documents. © 2011 PHII SUNFL021375P308AVA

Maximize your investment with Pioneer® brand sunflower hybrid 63N82 with the DuPont™ ExpressSun® trait. It’s a non-transgenic gene which provides tolerance to postemergence applications of DuPont™ Express® herbicide with TotalSol® soluble granules. Use it for post control of problem weeds including:

� Wild mustard � Common lambsquarters� Redroot pigweed � Tansy mustard� Canada thistle

63N82 offers yield potential and agronomic traits similar to Pioneer® hybrid 63M80, a mid-oleic hybrid that meets NuSun® oil standards.

To learn more about Pioneer sunflower hybrids and the DuPont™ ExpressSun® trait, contact your Pioneer sales professional or visit www.pioneer.com/sunflower

“Exceptionalweed controland crop safetyis excellent.” — Lee Lubbers Gregory, South Dakota