While sunflower and canola crops have some management best practices that are unique to them, both benefit from the best practices listed below.
1. HYBRID SELECTION
- Choose hybrids based on market, herbicide tolerance, maturity and disease tolerance needed on an individual farm. Nuseed has a sunflower and canola hybrid right for every field and every market.
2. PLANTER BASICS
- Consult your planter manual for proper inflation and tire size. Unwanted population variation occurs with over inflation or underinflation of the meter drive system tires.
- Make sure planter is level front to back and left to right parallel bars are actually parallel.
- Check closing wheel alignment.
- Check disk openers for wear, the diameter of a new disk is 15″. A disk worn smaller than 14.5″ may create a W in the trench and cause difference up to ¾” in seed depth.
- Make sure drives are all in good working order (chains, bearings and shafts).
- Make sure all chains and sprockets are properly aligned to prevent binding.
- Make sure all seed tubes and sensors are clean and functional.
- Row cleaners are vital. They should float freely with maintained pivot point and bearings. Residue left in-furrow can change soil temperature and cause delayed emergence.
3. AIR SEEDER BASICS
- Check opener disks for wear — most manufacturers’ disks are 18″; if they are 17″ or less, replace them.
- Examine firming and closing wheel arms; check bushings.
- Check the condition of the air delivery system, making sure the air system fan is operating at the proper speed.
- Check all hoses and distributors for wear, air leakage, cracks or blockage.
- Make sure seed boots are within spec (if more than 1/2″ is burned off the bottom of the boot, it should be replaced. To check, use your tape measure and if the boot is less than 11.3″, look into replacing the boot.
- Calibrate downforce to ensure the boot is running parallel with the ground (too much downforce will cause the seed boot to run deeper in the trench, and it will not run parallel to the ground).
- Make sure all bearings are in good condition.
- Check that you have the proper metering roll for the proper application. Also, check the metering roll for wear, and clean from any foreign material.
- Check meter calibrations prior to entering the field, and check your calibrations and seed usage after planting a few acres.
4. BEFORE YOU PLANT
- Early-season weed control is crucial. Control early-season weeds with soil-applied herbicides or a pre-seed burn-off to keep fields as free from weeds as possible for the first four to six weeks.
- Utilize seed treatments for below-ground protection of insects and diseases.
- When appropriate, plan for and use a registered in-furrow insecticide at planting to control chewing insects.
- Proper seedbed preparation is required prior to seeding sunflowers and small seeded crops like canola and carinata.
- Whether using conventional-till or no-till, an even seedbed promotes uniform germination and emergence and good plant stand establishment.
- Consider crop rotation. A minimum three year rotation to reduce disease and weed pressure is also recommended.
Sunflowers: Avoid back-to-back rotation with canola, rapeseed, dry edible beans and soybeans, or other crops susceptible to the same diseases as sunflowers. Carefully plan your rotation to control problem weeds and also manage herbicide resistance. Always follow registered uses and label instructions. - Meet the crop’s specific nutrition requirements and fertilize for realistic targets according to geography, soil type and annual precipitation. Remember, overfertilization can do more harm than good, and fertilizer should never be placed in the seed furrow.
5. PLANTING CONSIDERATIONS
- Soil temperature
Sunflowers: Temperature needs to be at 50 degrees Fahrenheit or more for your chosen soil depth (1.5″ to 2.5″). Planting sunflower seed into cold soils may cause seed to go into dormancy, resulting in delayed germination.
Canola: A good starting point for seeding canola is when the three-day average soil temperature in the seed zone is 40 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the temperature where biological activity typically begins. Canola germinating and growing in cool soil conditions will have prolonged exposure to diseases as well as insects. - Planting depth
Sunflowers: If planting deeper than 2″, consider increasing planting population. Percent emergence will decrease as planting depth is increased. Confection sunflowers should never be planted deeper than 2″.
Canola: Canola must be planted into moisture! Recommended seeding depth for winter and spring canola is 0.5″-1.5″. If moisture is deeper than 1.5″ and the drill is capable of placing seed deeper, it is preferable the seed is not covered with more than one inch of soil. - For good seed-to-soil contact, make sure soil is pressed firmly against the seed at planting and the furrow is closed following seed placement. Poor seed-to-soil contact will result in uneven emergence. This is important in all crops, but particularly for sunflower. Moisture first needs to get through the woody hull and then to the seed.
- When planting into no-till, stop and check incrementally that the planter is knifing into the soil. Planting into a field with wet residue can cause “hair pinning” — pushing straw into the seed slot instead of slicing through it. Row cleaners should be able to move residue away from the furrow to prevent hair pinning. With air drills, very little can be done; wait for better conditions and consider residue management options.
- Be willing to dig seeds to check placement.
Sunflower Considerations:
• Be prepared to switch plates, baffle settings, singulator or double eliminator settings and vacuum or air pressure for desired singulation. Revisit settings between seed lots.
• Use a lubricant, such as eFlow 80/20 Seed Lubricant.
• Ensure your vacuum is set properly as your skips and multiples should be close to equal (if more multiples, lower your vacuum; if more skips, increase your vacuum).
• Know the speed at which your planter’s meters operate best for each seed lot. Some lots may require faster or slower speeds than normal.
• Consider filling your planter hoppers half full to reduce bridging potential.
• Because seeding rates are based on commercial grain characteristics desired by specific end-use markets, review Nuseed seeding rate recommendations for the chosen hybrid.
Canola Considerations:
• Winter canola – the seeding window varies from July-September. Row spacing is commonly set at 12-28″.
• Spring canola – typically seeded in April or as soon as field conditions permit and soil temperatures are suitable. Row spacing is normally set at 7-12″.
• Hybrid seed size varies. Be sure to use the Thousand Seed Weight when calculating your seeding rate.
