Production Guides, Meetings Provide Sunflower Information
Writer: Tim W. McAlavy, (806) 746-6101, email: t-mcalavy@tamu.edu
Contact: Calvin Trostle, (806) 746-6101, email: c-trostle@tamu.edu
LUBBOCK – High irrigation costs and low commodity prices have some High
Plains crop producers
scratching their heads and rethinking their 2001 crop production strategies.
“We will see a substantial increase in sunflower acreage here,” said
Calvin Trostle, Texas Agricultural
Extension Service agronomist based at Lubbock. “High irrigation costs,
especially for thirsty crops such as
corn, could lead many producers to consider planting sunflowers instead.
“These producers need to remember that sunflowers have very distinct
production needs. Even so,
confectionary and oilseed sunflowers can be a profitable crop if they
are managed correctly.”
Helping producers manage sunflowers properly and profitably is the goal
of two publications now available
to growers, Trostle said.
Common Concerns of West Texas Sunflower Production and Ways to Solve
Them and
Managing Insect Pests of Texas Sunflower are available at county Extension
offices across the High
Plains, from Trostle at Texas A&M’s Lubbock Research and Extension
Center, and on the Internet.
Common Concerns is posted at the Lubbock center’s website ( http://lubbock.tamu.edu
). The insect guide
is available electronically at http://texaserc.tamu.edu/catalog/index.html.
“The Common Concerns production guide helps prospective and current
sunflower growers anticipate
potential problems, and equipment needs, before they occur,” Trostle
said. “This guide discusses numerous
options to overcome concerns such as sunflower moth, planting dates,
seeding rates, soil fertility, irrigation
management, volunteer plants, and rotational crop performance following
sunflowers.
“The insect guide covers management and control strategies for many
pests, including the sunflower moth –
which we consider the boll weevil of sunflower production. The sunflower
moth is a manageable pest,
providing you know what to look for, when to scout, and what the control
options are during the seven to
10 days when this pest can inflict the most damage.”
Other detailed production information is available in these additional
guides:
Control of Volunteer Annual Sunflower and 2001 Texas Panhandle Annual
Sunflower Weed Control
Guide are available at the Lubbock website; while the Sunflower Production
Guide for West Central
Texas is available at the San Angelo center website ( http://sanangelo.tamu.edu/agronomy
).
“The High Plains Sunflower Production Handbook published by K-State
is another good guide. It is
available at http://www.oznet.edu/library/crpsl2/samplers/MF2384.htm,”
Trostle said. “The results of K-
State’s sunflower variety tests are located at http://www.ksu.ksu.edu.kscpt.
Colorado variety tests are
found at http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/SoilCrop/extension/CropVar/index.htm.”
Three firms will be processing sunflower acreage in West Texas: Red
River Commodities, confectionary,
Lubbock, 1-800- 763-9740; Sigco Sun, confectionary, Goodland, KS, 1-800-742-9259;
and Northern Sun,
oilseed, Goodland, KS, 1-800-542-7333.
“With the help of county agents, we also are scheduling some sunflower
production meetings across the
South Plains,” Trostle said. “The first of these, in Hockley County,
is slated on March 23 in Levelland.
This meeting begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Farmers Co-op Elevator Association
on Highway 114 – west of
town.
“Sunflower production is also on the agenda at the March 28 crops meeting
for Bailey and Parmer County
producers in Muleshoe.”
More information on these meetings is available by calling the Hockley
County Extension office
(806-894-3159), the Bailey County Extension office (806-272-4584),
or the Parmer County Extension
office (806-481-3619).
Brand or company names appearing in this article are used for identification
only. No endorsement is
intended, nor is criticism of similar products or companies not mentioned.