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‘Back to School’

Tuesday, October 1, 2024
filed under: News

Nuseed Hosts Growers at Sunflower University
        The concept of “continuing education” for sunflower producers took on a useful hands-on format on September 18 when Nuseed hosted an autumn version of its annual Sunflower University.
        The event, which featured presentations by several speakers in a rotating station format, along with attendance by several commercial vendors, took place at the Nuseed sunflower breeding station located near Rothsay, Minn.
        Pictured here are several of the day’s presenters, along with brief capsules of the respective topics on which they focused. The Sunflower will address some of these topics in more depth in future issues of the magazine.
        Nuseed has been conducting its Sunflower University for several years, with sessions typically being held during the winter months.


Lee Moran (left), North American sales manager for Hamilton/Fantini, discussed the respective types of header attachments used for sunflower harvesting, along with the pro’s and con’s of the different types.	John Sandbakken, executive director of the National Sunflower Association, provided an overview of recent years’ sunflower markets. He noted that while acreage was down significantly in 2023, yields were very good — with a similar scenario expected in 2024. About 80% of U.S. sunflower oil is now consumed domestically, he reported. The industry continues to move away from NuSun® as it focuses on high-oleic hybrids and oil production. Increasing sunflower acreage will be a top priority for 2025, Sandbakken added.	Northern North Dakota crop consultant Jason Hanson addressed sunflower desiccation — its benefits and timing. A seed moisture level of about 35% is the time to crank up the desiccation process, he noted.


North Dakota State University plant pathologist Sam Markell focused on three sunflower stem diseases: Phoma, Phomopsis and Sclerotinia stalk rot. He displayed examples of each and discussed how these diseases infect and spread in sunflower fields. Markell also spoke on rust (above) and noted that it could be a serious problem in the 2025 season.	Cory Palm of Pro Ag Solutions, Bismarck, N.D., along with Nick Foertsch (pictured) of Strong Roots Ag, provided growers with insights into their experiences with the use of drones in agriculture and sunflower specifically. They also had two drones on display and gave their grower audience a flight demonstration of the larger one, which can treat 40-45 acres per hour. Uses in sunflower include crop monitoring, herbicide and insecticide applications, and desiccation treatments.	Nuseed sunflower breeder Jeremy Klumper provided an overview of sunflower breeding in general and the Nuseed program specifically. He discussed single-gene (“quantitative”) traits like downy mildew resistance as well as multiple-gene (“qualitative”) ones like yield. He said Nuseed is moving away from the development of Clearfield® varieties, with more focus on Express®Sun hybrids for the future.