Manitoba’s sunflower harvest is underway, with desiccation and hard frosts helping dry down the crops this week.
Harvested fields are yielding 1,500 pounds per acre, said Arvel Lawson, business development specialist for oilseeds with Manitoba Agriculture.
“It does look like some very good crops both for oilseed and confection,” said Lawson, who predicted an average year overall for growers concentrated mainly around Morden, Altona and Winnipeg.
The harvest schedule is typical this year, compared to last year’s that started early and produced greater volumes than normal.
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Excess moisture and reports of rust contributed to less than ideal conditions, she said.
“For every guy reporting big yields, there’s another guy who is below average,” said Fairfax sunflower grower Kelly Dobson.
He had to re-seed sunflower acres to canola after three spring frosts deciminated his fields.
Storms, hail and heat also hurt the crop and decreased yields in some areas, although insects and diseases problems were not as bad as some years.
Such challenges fail to dampen Dobson’s enthusiasm for the crop, whose prices look good for those who forward contracted their production.
On Sept. 21, he was hauling flax and working in the yard while waiting for fields to dry after recent showers.
Dobson, treasurer of the National Sunflower Association of Canada, cited emerging demand in the U.S. potato chip market for new sunflower oil that could make it worthwhile for farmers to take a second look at growing the crop.
He noted how Frito Lay has switched to the oil and crushers are looking north to meet a demand that can’t be filled in the United States. Varieties are also being found that can work well in northern climates.
Dobson encouraged farmers to make cost comparisons between growing sunflowers over canola next year.
“You might find it competes very, very well going forward,” he said.
“This is an opportunity for farmers.”
Dobson suggested producers add a quarter section of sunflowers to their rotations in the coming year.
Improvements in crop protection are expected for next season that will minimize some of the growing challenges of the past.
In addition, freight issues have been solved with several delivery points as close as the nearest Patterson elevator in some towns.
Lawson said Manitoba grows 90 percent of Canada’s sunflower crop. It grew 110,000 acres for confection and 65,000 acres for oil markets this year.
It is ideally suited because of good heat units and a longer growing season, although southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario also grow small amounts of sunflowers.
In recent years, producers have shifted from the confection to oilseed side, an area that Dobson predicted will continue to grow.
“It’s so much easier to grow oilseed: the risk, the standards are lower than confection,” he said.
Dobson said the Manitoba crop benefits from a well developed processing industry in the province for confection and birdseed.
