Nitrogen balance critical
From the October 2008 edition of Agriculture Today.
Sunflower prices are at competitive levels again this season - around $700 a tonne for monounsaturated sunflowers.
After reasonable falls of rain in northern NSW in early September, the area of early plant monounsaturated hybrids will be similar to or slightly bigger than last season.
District agronomist Loretta Serafin says measuring starting soil water is a risk management technique to allow growers to develop a set of yield scenarios with expected in-crop rainfall.
"Starting with a good base of 80-100 centimetres of soil moisture improves the chance of a break-even yield and means that any in-crop rainfall is a bonus that will lift yield potential," Ms Serafin, based at Tamworth Agricultural Institute, said.
Ms Serafin told participants at a series of recent road show meetings, that while the best use of water is one critical factor for any successful crop, the other in the case of sunflowers is nitrogen nutrition.
"Nitrogen nutrition requires the correct balance - an excess may reduce oil content, while a deficiency will reduce yield potential," she said.
Ms Serafin said the increasing cost of nitrogen fertiliser meant decisions on nitrogen management must be informed.
"The best way to manage your nitrogen is to budget for your crop’s anticipated performance," she said.
Sunflowers remove 40 kilograms of nitrogen with every tonne per hectare of yield, so a crop’s nitrogen use is quite low compared with other crops such as maize and sorghum.
This factor alone appeals to growers and spreads the risk of planting a sunflower crop this season.
The sunflower road shows covered a range of agronomy, marketing and industry issues, including information on powdery mildew, prevalent in many crops planted late last season.
Australian Grain Accumulation, buyers for Cargill, provided current market information.
Sunflowers on the road again
A series of recent sunflower road shows for growers and advisers was the perfect forum to launch the new publication Sunflower Production Guidelines for the Northern Grains Region.
Tamworth district agronomist, Loretta Serafin, and former Moree East district agronomist, Stephanie Belfield, collected information on 134 paddocks of sunflowers over three seasons to identify practices leading to better yields and oil contents.
The five road shows attracted 130 keen sunflower growers and advisers and were held during August at Spring Ridge, Narrabri and Moree in northern NSW, and St George and Clifton in Qld.
The publication is the culmination of a three year project, Sunflowers in Northern NSW and Southern Qld - tools for success, jointly funded by the Australian Oilseeds Federation and NSW DPI.
Contact Loretta Serafin, Tamworth, (02) 6763 1100, or Don McCaffery, Orange,(02) 6391 3648.
