The final planting dates for 2026 crop insurance purposes have been announced by the Risk Management Agency. These maps show final planting dates for the Dakotas, Minnesota, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.

The final planting date is the last day that you can plant the crop and still get full coverage. After this date the coverage is reduced by 1 percent per day and the actual final date that the crop can be planted and is anywhere from 20 to 25 days after the date listed on the map depending on the county.

NSA is working with RMA to have trend-adjusted actual production history yields (Trend-Adjusted APH) for sunflower in all counties in all states that have sunflower crop insurance coverage. This would give sunflower producers another option to update their actual production history (APH) when making crop insurance decisions. 

Hail storms can and will cause different types of sunflower plant injury. Plant death, damage to the terminal bud, physical injury to the stalk and head, and defoliation are all types of injury that can influence yield. These guidelines can help you and your crop insurance adjuster determine losses due to hail damage at several stages of sunflower plant development.