MOOSE JAW, Sask. – A small sunflower variety testing program established in Saskatchewan in 1983 manages to stay afloat on just a few thousand dollars a year.
The program, operated by the Saskatchewan Sunflower Committee in co-operation with research sites at Indian Head, Scott, Melfort, Swift Current, Outlook, Saskatoon and Canora, tested six varieties in 2005.
Companies that submit varieties pay a testing fee, program co-ordinator Cliff Powlowski told a sunflower meeting in Moose Jaw.
The fee is $800 per entry, meaning the program took in $4,800 last year.
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“We really don’t do research, just demonstration,” Powlowski said.
However, information gathered through the trials can be used for registration purposes.
He said the lack of external funding hinders the testing program. With such a large growing area, research costs are high. An onion sack must be placed over each head and the plots are hand weeded and thinned to recommended populations.
A voluntary check-off system would help provide extra funding, he said, as would joining forces with Manitoba’s sunflower committee.
In the meantime, results from 2005 were mixed. Two companies – Pioneer Hi-Bred and Seeds2000 – submitted the six varieties.
Powlowski said the cool, damp fall created maturity problems at some plots. The Scott trial was hit by severe hail damage in July. Canora’s site was lost when someone destroyed the plot with a vehicle.
At Swift Current, dry conditions in July and August followed by freezing in late September resulted in an immature crop.
In Saskatoon, the crop hasn’t been lost once since sunflowers were first planted there in 1983, Powlowski said.
Mean seed yields from all the sites ranged from 825 kilograms per acre to 983 kg per acre.
Days to maturity ranged from 116 to 125 and oil content ranged from 40 to 46.2 percent when the crop was dried to less than four percent moisture.
