the sunflower grower august/september 2010

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EXPERTISE. FROM SUN UP TO SUN DOWN.

444 44478 94:;

— FEATURES —Russian Drought Implications Huge for World Markets . . . . 6

Too early to know full impact on sunflower crop

New Weapon in Toolbox for Sunflower Desiccation . . . . . . . 8BASF’s ‘Sharpen’ will be used by growers for first time this year

Harvest Attachments & Conversion Kits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12What’s out there for sunflower producers?

Sanitation Key for Avoiding Combine Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Tough fall in 2009; tips on minimizing issues this year

Causes of Combine & Tractor Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20South Dakota farm safety specialist offers prevention, response advice

S.D. Growers Convert Row-Crop Head for More Capacity . 21Sperry brothers achieve their objective at moderate cost

SNP, SNP, SNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22High-tech breeding initiative aims to keep sunflower competitive

It’s That (Blackbird) Time of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25USDA program helps affected growers combat predators

The Cost of Moisture Shrinkage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Understanding ‘moisture shrink’ in sunflower

Spittin’ Mad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Sunflower seeds among items banned at Kansas baseball stadium

The Sunflower Marks 35 Years! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Magazine’s first issue printed in August 1975

Sunflower Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4News items from the world of sunflower

COVER — The 2010 harvest season is fast approaching! Photo: Don Lilleboe

Vol. 36 No. 4 IN THIS ISSUE Aug./Sept. 2010

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2010 3

How much longer until harvest?

Page 8

Page18

Publisher —National Sunflower Associationwww.sunflowernsa.comEditor — Larry KleingartnerAdvertising Manager — Lerrene KrohContributing Writer/Editor — Don Lilleboe

The Sunflower is published six timesper year by the National SunflowerAssociation, a farmer and industry organi-zation working to improve the profitability ofsunflower for all sectors. Farmer checkoffcommissions/councils, in N.D., S.D., Kan.,and Colo., make up the basic funding andgoverning structure of the NSA. Assess-ments on volume in the oilseed and confec-tion processing industries and the hybridseed companies are a key funding compo-nent as well. Other important funding isfrom grants, including from the USDAForeign Agricultural Service.

Offices for The Sunflower are located atNSA headquarters, 2401 46th Ave. S.E.,Ste. 206, Mandan, ND 58554. NSA & mag-azine phone number is (701) 328-5100; tollfree (888) 718-7033; fax: (701) 663-8652.

U.S. farmers raising 10 or more acresof sunflower, extension agents, and publicsunflower researchers are eligible toreceive The Sunflower at no charge.

Others may subscribe at these rates:North American residents, US $9.00 for oneyear or US $24.00 for three years; overseasair mail, US $36.00 per year.

Information in The Sunflower does notnecessarily represent the views or policiesof the National Sunflower Association. Nordoes advertising in The Sunflower implyendorsement by the publisher.

Current NSA officers and directors:

ChairmanTim DeKrey, Steele, N.D.

PresidentDon Schommer, Munich, N.D.

First Vice PresidentTom Young, Onida, S.D.Second Vice President

Leon Zimbelman, Keenesburg, Colo.Secretary/Treasurer

John Swanson, Mentor, MinnDirectors

Brad Bonhorst, Fort Pierre, S.D.Kevin Capistran, Crookston, Minn.Guy Christensen, Enderlin, N.D.Mike Clemens, Wimbledon, N.D.Tim Egeland, Crookston, Minn.Karl Esping, Lindsborg, Kan.

Reginal Herman, Brinsmade, N.D.John McLean, West Fargo, N.D.Jeff Oberholtzer, Mohall, N.D.Mike Odegaard, Bismarck, N.D.

Art Ridl, Dickinson, N.D.Ron Seidel, Meadow, S.D.

Dean Sonnenberg, Fleming, Colo.Arnold Woodbury, Wyndmere, N.D.

Executive DirectorLarry Kleingartner, Bismarck, N.D.

USDA-ARS Entomologist Larry Charlet RetiresDr. Larry Charlet has retired as the USDA-ARS Sunflower

Research Unit entomologist after 32 years. Charlet came to theFargo unit at a time when insect controlrecommendations had to be made withouthaving sufficient confirming research inplace. He worked closely with universityentomologists to develop research protocolsin multiple locations.

In recent years, Charlet has workedwith key university partners in identifyinggenetic resistance to a number of insectpests, including the sunflower head moth,banded moth, stem weevil and red seedweevil. This team has identified significant genetic differences,and the program is now moving into the breeding stage.

USDA Geneticist Invited As Guest LecturerDr. Brent Hulke, USDA-ARS Sunflower Research Unit sun-

flower geneticist, has been invited to present a seminar at theRaymond F. Baker Center for Plant Breeding at Iowa StateUniversity. The lecture series is by invitation and has includedplant breeders from around the world.

Iowa State University has a long history in plant breeding and

has produced many notable plant breeders. The private sector isheavily invested in ISU’s programs, with Pioneer Hi-Bred and

Monsanto having major breeding facilitiesin close proximity to the university campus.

Hulke’s presentation is titled“Challenges and Opportunities in Breedinga Minor Field Crop: The Case History andUnrealized Potential of Sunflower.”

A Minnesota native, Hulke earned hisdegrees from South Dakota StateUniversity, Iowa State University and theUniversity of Minnesota. He has been withthe Fargo-based ARS unit for three years.

Details on the ISU series, with video of lectures, are availableat: http://www.plantbreeding.iastate.edu/ pro_bp_lectures.html.

Mullally Named NSA Communications DirectorSonia Mullally has joined the National Sunflower Association

staff as communications director. She has 10 years of communi-cations experience working with newspaperbusiness and media firms, most recently asadvertising manager and staff writer for thePierce Country Tribune in Rugby N.D.Mullally has additional experience withseveral companies in graphic arts design.She is a graduate of Concordia College.

As communications director, Mullallywill be writing stories for The Sunflowermagazine, updating and enhancing theNSA website, assisting state checkoff coun-

cils/commissions in their media work, and expanding the NSAmedia reach nationally.

Seidel and Odegaard Now on NSA Board Ron Seidel of Meadow S.D., is the newest member of the

National Sunflower Association Board of Directors. He repre-sents the South Dakota Oilseed Council, which now has threeNSA board members, based on the association’s funding formula.Seidel operates an integrated small grains, oilseeds and livestockoperation near Meadow in northwestern South Dakota.

Mike Odegaard ofBASF Corporationnow represents thecrop protectionindustry on the NSAboard. Odegaard,who works out ofBismarck N.D., hasbeen with BASF for15 years. As anNSA board member,

he replaced Vince Ulstad of BASF, who was seriously injured lastyear in an automobile accident.

Stern Memorial Scholarship WinnerSam Partlow of Carrington ND., a student at North Dakota

State University, is the recipient of a $1,500 Curt Stern MemorialScholarship. A third-year agronomy student, Partlow plans toreturn to his home area to increase his existing farm operation. �

Sunflower Briefs

Larry Charlet

Sonia Mullally

Brent Hulke

Ron Seidel Mike Odegaard

4 THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2010

Verticillium Research InitiativeDr. Kholoud Alananbeh has been hired to work on

Verticillium wilt in sunflower. Alananbeh, a native of Jordan,recently received her Ph.D. in plant pathol-ogy from North Dakota State University.Her Ph.D. work was on Verticillium inpotatoes. Verticillium vegetative compati-bility groups (VCG), a type of race, arebeing identified in her sunflower work.The aggressiveness of each VCG identifiedwill be characterized. The third objectiveis to develop molecular marker techniquesfor genetic resistance evaluation.

The National Sunflower Association isfunding Alananbeh’s postdoctoral fellowship. While Verticilliumhas not been a significant factor in the U.S., the NSA boardagreed it is necessary to get ahead of any disease developments.

Sclerotinia Wild Species ProjectDr. Zhao Liu has been a member of the Sclerotinia research

team since January 2008, serving as a postdoctoral research asso-ciate of the USDA-ARS SunflowerResearch Unit in Fargo, N.D.

Liu completed her master’s degree incrop genetics and breeding from ShandongAgricultural University, Taian, China. Shereceived her Ph.D. degree from the ChineseAcademy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing,China, with a major in biochemistry andmolecular biology.

At the Fargo ARS unit, she is workingon transferring Sclerotinia resistance genesfrom wild Helianthus species into the cultivated sunflower, work-ing under the guidance of Drs. C. C. Jan, Gerald Seiler andThomas Gulya. Her research progress has been outstanding, withactivities in the greenhouse, field and in the laboratory usingmolecular markers and microscopy. Advanced generation linesderived from various wild perennial Helianthus species are in thefield for the second-year evaluation.

Liu’s position is funded by the National Sclerotinia Initiative.

Doubled Haploid Research TeamDr. Xuelin Fu has been selected to work on development of a

doubled haploid system for sunflower breeding. Fu will beemployed by the Plant Sciences Depart-ment at North Dakota State University andwill work with the Fargo USDA-ARSSunflower Research Unit.

A native of China, Fu received herPh.D. in plant genetics and breeding atSouth China Agricultural University inGuangzhou. Her dissertation work waswith rice, where she studied the transfer ofgenes from wild relatives of rice to culti-vated rice. Utilizing wild germplasm, shealso developed substitution lines in rice that will aid in ricebreeding. Fu has extensive research experience in plant tissueculture, especially with wheat, carrot, rice and aloe.

Fu was appointed associate professor of plant genetics and

breeding at the College of Agronomy in South China AgriculturalUniversity in 2001. She taught genetics and plant breedingcourses, and supervised graduate student research experiences.

Doubled haploid technology allows experimental lines to bedeveloped much faster than through traditional breeding. It alsoaccelerates the genetic mapping of important agronomic genes tospecific locations on chromosomes.

Fu joins a doubled haploid development team comprised ofDrs. C. C. Jan, Lili Qi and Brent Hulke of the USDA-ARSSunflower Research Unit, and Dr. Richard Horsley of the NDSUPlant Sciences Department. Funding for the project was providedby a consortium of NSA member hybrid seed companies.

Confection Rust ResearchDr. Li Gong has joined the USDA-ARS Sunflower Research

Unit, focusing on confection sunflower genetic resistance to rust.She will be working with Dr. Sam Markell, plant pathologist at

NDSU, and Dr. Lili Qi, molecular geneti-cist at the Fargo-based ARS unit.

Gong received her Ph.D. from anAustrian university in molecular geneticsand plant breeding, having worked onmolecular breeding of oilseed pumpkin.She has completed postdoctoral work at theUniversity of Florida in marker develop-ment and germplasm diversity of severalornamental plants.

Gong’s sunflower work is funded by agrant received from the USDA Specialty Crop Block GrantProgram administered by the North Dakota Department ofAgriculture.

Insect Resistance Work ContinuesDr. Anitha Chirumamilla is a postdoctoral scientist who is a

key part of the insect resistance research team involving theUSDA ARS Sunflower Research Unit,Kansas State University, South DakotaState University and North Dakota StateUniversity.

One of Chirumamilla’s responsibilitiesis determining the manner of the plant’sresistance so that it can be enhanced. Workis being done on the sunflower moth, band-ed moth, stem weevil and the red seed wee-vil. Testing for resistance requires fieldplots in areas where a particular insect pop-

ulation is consistent. Chirumamilla received her undergraduate degree in her native

India and her Ph.D. from NDSU. Her postdoc assignment is sup-ported by the National Sunflower Association.

Sclerotinia Resistance BreedingDr. Zahirul Talukder is a postdoctoral scientist working with

the USDA ARS Sunflower Research Uniton Sclerotinia resistance breeding. He is anative of Bangladesh and received hisPh.D. from the University of Aberdeen inthe United Kingdom in plant molecularbiology.

Talukder’s position is combining fieldnursery work of laboratory analysis in iden-tifying additional genetic markers forresistance to Sclerotinia. He is workingunder the guidance of Dr. Brent Hulke, the

Unit’s sunflower research geneticist. His position is funded bythe National Sclerotinia Initiative. �

Recent Public Sunflower

Research Appointments


Kholoud Alananbeh

Zhao Liu

Xuelin Fu

Li Gong

Anitha Chirumamilla

Zahirul Talukder

Summer markets in this country typical-ly revolve around weather and crop rat-

ings. U.S. weather has been a bearish mar-ket factor this summer. Most of the CornBelt and Northern Plains have experienceda generally excellent growing season, withnormal to above-normal temperatures andprecipitation. Problems have centered ontoo much moisture rather than too little.

Last spring, extended weather forecastswere calling for the possibility we couldhave a hot and dry latter half of the sum-mer. So far, those conditions have beenmostly limited to the Deep South. Theresult has been great crop condition ratingsfor basically every crop. About 75% (orso) of the corn, soybean and wheat cropshave been rated good to excellent through-out the season. That has led to high yieldestimates and a market attitude that wasdecidedly bearish through most of June.

The weather market of 2010 wasn’t inthe U.S. It occurred in Russia with amajor drought that didn’t show up ontraders’ radar screens until mid- to lateJune. The severity of the drought sur-passed anyone’s expectations and hascaused a very sharp reduction in crop pro-duction in Russia, with smaller reductionsin surrounding FSU countries.

The immediate response came in thewheat market, which rallied nearly $3.00 abushel from the end of June to the firstweek of August. It was almost a single-commodity rally in that corn and soybeansdid not tag along. That’s because Russia

has been a large volume and cheapexporter of wheat the past two marketingyears. The drought has cut their wheatcrop significantly, and Russia has declareda moratorium on wheat exports.

The market has yet to talk about howthe drought has also devastated Russia’shay and forage crops. That will mean theywill need to import feed grains or sharplyreduce livestock herds.

This drought is a very significant fun-damental occurrence for the grain andoilseed markets. As the drought persists, ithas also drastically reduced yield potentialfor feed grain and oilseeds crop yields,including sunflower. USDA’s August 12world supply and demand report cutRussia’s total wheat and feed grains pro-duction to just 65.9 million metric tons,down from 104.4 million last year. That isa huge change to the markets.

It is interesting that the big marketresponse in wheat has yet to spill over

into crops like sunflower, since sunfloweris a major crop in Russia. Of course, thereare no futures markets for sunflower, sothe large speculators have no way to buyor go long on sunflower like they can inthe various wheat futures markets.

The damage to the sunflower crop isalso not fully known yet. Sunflowermatures later and toleratess drought better

than other row crops. Between 40 to 50%of Russia’s sunflower crop is produced inthe areas that have been hardest hit by thedrought.

My opinion is that losses will begreater than currently anticipated. Someanalysts have reduced their world sun-flower crop production estimates by onemillion metric tons (or so) because of thedrought in Russia. U.S. sunflower yieldprospects, on the other hand, look very,very good.

World oilseed markets have remainedmuch stronger than expected through

the summer, for reasons other than theRussian drought. The extremely wetCanadian spring planting season resultedin sharply lower canola acres than expect-ed. Soybean demand to China simply doesnot stop or even slow down. The recordsoybean crop in South America hardly puta dent in soybean prices because of bigweekly purchases of newcrop soybeansfrom the U.S. by China. The USDAannounced soybean sales to China onseven consecutive days in early August.

The soybean outlook is still consideredbearish, based on projections that U.S.ending supplies will double in the nextmarketing year and world soybean supplieswill be record large. Oilseeds markets,however, have ignored the big supply pic-ture and focused on the rapidly expandingdemand outlook. Soybean demand shouldcontinue to outpace expectations.

The U.S. vegetable oil outlook contin-ues to be hampered by the failure ofCongress to reinstate the biodiesel taxcredit that expired last December. Morebiodiesel production facilities close everymonth the credit is not available. Thebusiness is not profitable without the taxcredit.

The sunflower market has been relative-ly steady the past few months, but has

recently rallied back toward the highs ofthe last six months. Sunflower oil priceshave strengthened considerably. TheAugust USDA crop production and supplyand demand reports increased the soybeanyield to a record 44 bushels per acre, butincreased demand offset the increase inproduction. The corn yield was also esti-mated to be a record 165 bushels an acre,but increased demand actually reducedending supplies.

Demand will be the story of the2010/11 marketing year. China continuesto aggressively buy soybeans and could bea larger importer of corn than expected.The decline in Black Sea region produc-tion will push more wheat and corndemand to the U.S. The sunflower marketshould benefit from the strengtheningdemand outlook. �


Mike Krueger is owner of The MoneyFarm, a grain marketing consulting firm.While the information in this article isbelieved to be reliable, marketing involvesrisk, and the author and The Sunflowerassume no liability for its use.

The drought in Russia is a verysignificant and fundamentaloccurrence for the grain and oilseed markets. . . .Damage to the sunflower crop is not yet fully known.

Russian Drought Implications HugeFor World Grain & Oilseed Markets

By Mike Krueger

arkets

(888) 786-7333www.seeds2000.net

Technology in your seed®

Combine genetics for northern growing conditions

Sunflower growers have access to a newdesiccation tool in 2010. That tool is

Sharpen® (saflufenacil), part of the Kixorherbicide group from BASF. Sharpenactually received a full Section 3 labelfrom EPA in late 2009 — too late to beused in the field.

The product has been researched as adesiccant on sunflower starting in 2007, infour locations: Minot and Fargo N.D.,Brookings, S.D., and Hays, Kan. Thisdesiccation research, funded by theNational Sunflower Association, comparedSharpen with already-labeled products

such as Paraquat Inteon® and RoundupOriginalMax® (which is labeled for late-season weed control).

Although the 2009 season was a“bust” for this research (as were certainyears in other locations), data point outthat Sharpen will be a good option whenfall weather conditions are conducive.

The data on the chart below indicatethat harvest can occur as much as 10 daysearlier in North Dakota with the use of adesiccant. The results were not as signifi-cant in South Dakota or Kansas, where thenumbers indicate no difference to a seven-day earlier harvest.

The advantage with Sharpen is that itis faster acting then Roundup Original.Gramoxone Inteon (Paraquat) is fast act-ing and kills the leaves quickly, but doesnot translocate. Sharpen is both a contactand systemic herbicide and does a betterjob of drying down the stem compared toGramoxone, according to NDSU’s KirkHowatt.

Another advantage over Graxomone isthat Sharpen is not a “cell disrupter.” Sothe plant is not as likely to rehydrate ifrainfall is received after an application ofSharpen. The combination of Sharpen andRoundup Original has advantages in betterweed kill for late-season weed control.

When to pull the trigger on spraying adesiccant is a bit tricky. Spraying too latewhen seed moisture is under 30% does notprovide much advantage in earlier harvestcompared to the control of “no desiccant.”Labels specify desiccating at 36% seedmoisture or less for Sharpen and 35% orless for the other labeled products.

Determining the exact seed moisturelevel is a guessing game at best. Ovendrying seed samples and comparing theweights before and after oven drying is themost exact procedure. For field observa-tion, Howatt likes to follow the drydownof the bracts. When the tip of the bract isbrown, the seed moisture is between 50-40%. When the neck of the bract hasturned brown, the seed is about 40%.When the shoulder of the bract is brownor dried (see diagram on page 10), theseed moisture will be 30-35%.

Kansas State University weed scientistPhil Stahlman says seed moistures varywithin the field and the head, so it will beimpossible to peg the moisture level at anexact number. Seed moisture is going tobe lower in the first seed rows of the headcompared to the last-filling center. Thekey of this long-term research is that therehas been no damage to oil content, seedsize, test weight or yield when plants weredesiccated at 40% seed moisture.

Additional research funded by theNSA and conducted by Dr. BurtonJohnson of NDSU and Dr. Russ Gesch ofUSDA-ARS at Morris Minn., revealed

40% Seed MoistureGramoxoneSharpenRoundupRoundup + Sharpen

30% Seed MoistureGramoxoneSharpenRoundupRoundup + Sharpen

Days Earlier Harvest Than ‘Control’ — 2007 & 2008

200725271726

8937

2007117912

7685

2008NANANANA

8366

20086784

3231

20075535

1210

200810151113

4330

Research conducted by Kirk Howatt and Brian Jenks (NDSU), Mike Moechnig (SDSU)and Phil Stahlman (KSU).

Minot, ND Fargo, ND Brookings, SD Hays, KS

New Weapon in ToolboxFor Sunflower Desiccation

Availability of ‘Sharpen’ Broadens Growers’ Options;Variety of Reasons for Considering Desiccation


These three photos depict typical sunflower fields at threedifferent seed moisture levels:• Above Left — This field’s seed moisture is at about

70%, which is definitely too early to apply a desiccant.• Above Right — This field’s seeds are at approximately

50% moisture . . . still too early for a desiccant treatment.• Left — Here the seed moisture has fallen under 35%,

the heads are yellowing, and the bracts are beginning to turnbrown. This is an appropriate stage for the application of acrop desiccant (or of a glyphosate weed control product).

Below: These photos compare the degree of plant drydownthat has occurred in untreated plot and plots treated withSharpen, Gramoxone and Roundup, respectively.

Untreated

RoundupGramoxone

Sharpen


Photos: Kirk Howatt / NDSU

that there are differences between hybridswhen comparing seed moisture and physi-ologic maturity. The researchers looked atMycogen’s 8N272 and Croplan’s 378 forphysiological maturity, including yield, oilcontent and fatty acid composition. Foryield, 8N272 and 378 reached maturitybetween 35-45% seed moisture. Oil con-

tent and fatty acid composition reachedmaturity between five to 10 moisturepoints higher.

This was from research conducted in2008 and 2009 at Morris and Prosper N.D.These results, combined with the multi-state research team data, clearly indicatethat erring on the high side of 35% seed

moisture is not going to impact yield orquality.

There is no suggestion here of goingoff label. It is simply a summarizationthat determining physiological maturityand seed moisture within the field, withinan individual head and between hybrids isgoing to vary by as much as 10 percentagepoints.

The importance of an early desiccantspray in the northern region is to takeadvantage of warmer temperatures inSeptember. Herbicides work best withwarm temperatures, allowing the plant totranslocate the herbicide. “In northernNorth Dakota and Minnesota, it doesn’tusually make a lot of sense to desiccate inOctober since our killing frost is usually atthat time,” Howatt says. But if the crop ismature in early September, there can besignificant advantages in accelerating theharvest with a desiccant. “It still alldepends on the weather after the applica-tion,” Howatt observes.

There are several reasons why desicca-tion should be considered. Stalk integrityis one. John Swanson of CroplanGenetics, a longtime sunflower agrono-mist, advises farmers and crop scouts tosplit a few stalks after petal drop to deter-mine what kind of insect activity is takingplace in that stalk. “If there is a lot of tun-neling, it might make sense to desiccateand get that crop off as soon as possible toavoid stalk breakage later on,” saysSwanson. The obvious blackbird issue inthe north is an additional reason for push-ing for early harvest.

Desiccation is a good tool for HighPlains growers who want to get winterwheat planted on the sunflower stubble,says KSU’s Stahlman. “Otherwise, theheat units in the High Plains region aresufficient for natural drydown.”

Desiccation is another managementtool that will not be an option each year.A good example was 2009, when the cropfinally matured in late September due tothe cool growing season. A killing freezefollowed shortly thereafter throughout theentire production region as far south asKansas. Researchers were not able tospray the desiccant because Mother Naturetook care of it. — Larry Kleingartner �


Utilizing Bracts as

Cues to Seed Moisture

Credit: Kirk Howatt / NDSU

The importance of an early desiccant spray in the northern region is to take advantage ofwarmer temperatures

in September.

SunStarYour Standard Corn Head

Harvests Corn andSunflowers with a SimpleSunStar Conversion!

Expand Crop Options WithoutWorrying About Harvesting Problems

SunStar is designed to work in a variety of field and crop conditions

Move quickly through standing sunflowers.Take advantage of your corn head’s ability topick up and salvage lodged heads, somethingmost header conversions won’t do. An inex-pensive SunStar conversion makes it easywithout modification of your corn head. It hasno moving parts to wear or replace.

Call us today, and we will give you more ofthe SunStar story. It works, and it can pay itsway in the very first year.

Models Available for All JD Heads, Case 800, 1000 & 4200 Series

and New Holland 98C

Call 800-255-8280

www.goldenplains.com/sunstar/

Installation Takes About 30 Minutes Per RowUses Existing Holes & Hardware; No Drilling

DragoTec USA

Drago sunflower knives have beenmarketed since 2002. They are manufac-tured for use with the Drago corn headdeck plates. Drago corn heads range inrows from four to 18; in row spacing from20 inches up to 40.

The Drago has 50% longer kniferollers that pull the plants into the deckplates and gathering chains at low veloci-ty, thereby reducing shatter and yield loss.The Drago corn head has automatic self-adjusting deck plates, saving butt shellingloss — particularly on the newer fast-dry-down hybrids.

This head can be adapted to almost anycombine by using the proper feeder houseadapter plate for the specific combinemodel.

For More Information: DragoTec USA,3701 30th Ave., Fenton, IA 50539; phone— (888) 456-8282 or (515) 889-2723;website — www.dragotec.com

Flexxifinger

The Flexxifinger™ QD™ SunflowerPan was introduced to farmers in 2007 bythe Saskatchewan agricultural manufactur-er Flexxifinger QD Industries. It isdesigned for quick installation, removal ortransition to other types of harvest attach-ments. The sunflower system will undergoits final stages of customer trials this sea-son (contact Flexxifinger if interested) andis expected to be available to the generalmarket in 2011.

The incline is aimed at salvaginglodged or low-hanging plant heads. “TheFlexxifinger QD Sunflower Pans areinstalled using our patented QD™ attach-ment system, which is installed separatelyon the header using provided guard boltsand a special QD nut, fastened on the topside of the guard,” says the firm. “Thisallows a pan to be removed or installed inseconds and an entire header in minutes.”

For More Information: FlexxifingerQD Industries, P.O. Box 1599, Assiniboia,SK S0H 0B0 Canada; phone — in U.S.(800) 544-8512; in Canada (800) 925-1510; website — www.flexxifinger.com

Gates Manufacturing

Gates Manufacturing has marketed its“Quick Tach” sunflower pans for a num-ber of years. The 48”-long durable plasticpans are available in three- and four-panassembly units for easy handling.

Overall unit widths range from threeup to 36 feet. The pans are designed to

What’s Available in Sunflower

Harvest Attachments & Conversion Kits

Editor’s Note: Many sunflowerproducers utilize row-crop combineheads to harvest this crop. Andmany others opt for a harvest attach-ment specifically designed for sun-flower. Still others employ specialconversion kits fitted to their cornhead.

These pages contain informationon several sunflower attachmentsand conversion kits available to pro-ducers. The information has beenprovided by the respective compa-nies and edited for use in TheSunflower.

This compilation is not totallyinclusive, as not all companies con-tacted responded to our request forinformation. Most did, however.Contact details are included for thosegrowers who wish to visit furtherabout a given company’s products.


Photo: Don Lilleboe

mount easily (via just two tighteners) onany auger or draper head.

Gates also offers liftrods that can beeasily attached to the pans to aid with theharvesting of lodged plants.

For More Information: GatesManufacturing Inc., 8710 33rd AvenueN.W, Lansford, ND 58750; phone — (701) 784-5434 or 784-5525; website —www.gatesmfg.net

Golden Plains Ag Tech

Golden Plains, based in Colby, Kan.,has been marketing the “SunStar” sun-flower harvesting system for the past 17years, serving customers in North andSouth America as well as several countrieselsewhere.

SunStar corn head attachments areused on John Deere and Case IH cornheads. Golden Plains has a model for theJD 600 Series corn head, as well as theCase 2200 and Case 2400 Series and NewHolland 98C.

SunStar is designed to take advantageof the unique physical characteristics ofthe sunflower stalk. For that reason, sun-flower is the only crop that can be harvest-ed while the SunStar attachments areinstalled. However, the attachments areinstalled and removed quite easily, so thegrower can quickly switch from ’flowersto corn, or vice versa, if needed.

“With SunStar conversions installed onthe producer’s corn head, he can movequickly through his standing ’flowers witha very small loss,” says Golden Plains AgTech. “He will be able to lift lodged stalksand move the heads into the combine withminimum loss.” Sunflower heads enter thecross auger “with the heads unbroken andsix to 12 inches of stalk still attached tothe head,” the company states.

SunStar has no moving parts andrequires no physical modification forattachment to the corn head. “There isonly one simple adjustment which is

usually made only once per season,”says Golden Plains.

For More Information: Golden PlainsAg Tech, P.O. Box 307, Colby, KS 67701;phone — (800) 255-8280; website —www.goldenplains.com/sunstar/

Intersteel Industries

The Intersteel sunflower attachmenthas been marketed for more than 40 years.Pan width options are nine, 12 and 27inches, and it is available in all rigid head-er lengths. The pans mount atop guards,

with pan supports that attach beneath thecombine header. The reel drum mountswith bearings and drive system from thebat reel supplied by the combine manufac-turer.

“Pan width, length and rotating drumhelp feed plant heads into the combine/header smoothly and evenly,” Intersteelstates. “Pan width and length ensure maxi-mum collection of shattered seeds in drycrop conditions. The nine-inch pans offermost versatility for any row spacing andalso work well for solid seeding.” TheIntersteel attachment also has been used

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with corn, the company reports.Along with the United States and

Canada, Intersteel has sold its harvestattachment in Chili and the Sudan.

For More Information: IntersteelIndustries, P.O. Box 1451, Morden, MBR6M 1B3, Canada; phone — (204) 822-5055 or (877) 839-9301; website —www.intersteelindustries.com

Lucke Manufacturing

The original Lucke sunflower harvest-ing attachment dates back to 1966. Lucke

presently offers nine and 12-inch panwidth options with its non-reel system.Other options include liftrods for lodgedplants and roller tips that are particularlyuseful in solid-seeded fields.

For More Information: LuckeManufacturing, 305 33rd Ave. S.W.,Minot, ND 58701; phone — (800) 735-5848 or (800) 735-5838; website —www.luckemanufacturing.com

Sheyenne Tooling & Mfg.

The “Sunmaster” harvest header hasbeen around since 1995. It was originallyproduced by Westward Products and laterbought by Jim Broten, a North Dakotafarmer and the owner of Sheyenne Tooling& Mfg. in Cooperstown, N.D.

The Sunmaster is available in eight-,12- and 16-row 30-inch spacing sizes.Also, 12-, 16- and 18-row 20-inch spacingsizes are available under an early orderprogram.

The units can be used to harvest cornand milo in addition to sunflower. Thesystem will fit on any combine, withadapter plates available.

The Sunmaster’s star cutting knife,with its four large, thick sickle knives, ispositioned at the back end of the gatheringchains. This design ensures that when thesunflower head is cut off, it will fall eitherdirectly onto the platform or onto the

vibrating pan and be moved to the plat-form. As the stalk is being moved to theknife, it is already positioned over the pan.So any seed loss caused by shattering isminimized as the seeds also fall onto thepan and are moved to the platform.

A cam on the drive shaft pushes arocker arm up and down beneath the pan.This action vibrates the seeds back ontothe platform.

The Sunmaster effectively harvestslodged sunflower plants. Depending onfield conditions, it may go with or againstthe plants’ angle — or even crossways.The row dividers slide along at groundlevel, with each divider moving up anddown independently. The ground-leveltravel, coupled with the star cutters’ posi-tion at the back of the gathering chain,ensures significant crop savings.

Some of the other seed-saving featuresof the Sunmaster are:

• Replaceable shoes on the undersideof the point of each divider.

• Brackets on each end of the header toprevent heads from getting hung up in aback corner.

• An adjustable ridge plate to helpdirect the stalk into the header.

• Optional sprockets allowing the oper-ator to match the gathering chains to theground speed.

For More Information: Sheyenne Tooling& Mfg., P.O. Box 647, Cooperstown, ND58425; phone — (800) 797- 1883 or (701)797-2700; website—www.sheyennemfg.com

West Country Products

Jamestown, N.D.-based West CountryProducts has distributed the “SeedEater”sunflower harvesting attachment since2006. Midwestern Machine, its manufac-turer, acquired the attachment in 1986.The product underwent an extensivemakeover in 1994 to improve upon its fit,function and aesthetics. Along with sun-flower, the SeedEater also has been usedsuccessfully in milo.

This harvesting attachment has beensold across the United States and in 14foreign nations. The company is an OEMsupplier for John Deere and Case NewHolland for their overseas sales.

The SeedEater is available with panwidths or either nine or 12 inches. Overall


attachment widths range from 18 up to30 feet. “Key features of the SeedEaterinclude a heavy-duty 16-gauge drum withspecially designed fingers to move sun-flower heads gently but positively to theauger,” says West Country Products.“Also, heavy-duty 14-gauge pans withstrong design and extra-long dividers formore-positive row alignment.

“The SeedEater is easily mounted onyour own combine header and can be lefton a dedicated header or removed,” WestCountry adds. “The pans are mounted on apermanent tube frame; therefore the drumcan be rolled off the reel arms onto thepans. The chain binders release on theback of the header, and you are ready toback away from the SeedEater.”

For More Information: West CountryProducts, Inc., P.O. Box 2062, Jamestown,ND 58401; phone — (866) 974-2182 or(701) 251-2182; website — www.west-countryproducts.com �


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Did your mother always emphasize that“cleanliness is next to godliness?” If

so, she obviously was referring to yourpersonal hygiene — not that of your com-bine. But when it comes to preventingcombine fires while harvesting sunflower,

a thorough, regular cleaning should takeprecedence even over a heart felt prayer.

The 2009 sunflower harvest seasonprovided a good example. It brought ahigher-than-usual number of combine firesto parts of the Northern Plains growing

region — particularly the central andwestern Dakotas. Weather was the pri-mary ingredient, in most cases. A wetearly fall was followed by a dry andabnormally warm late October andNovember. Many fields were harvested atseed moistures well below 10% — andsunflower stalks also were very dry.

So along with countless ‘fines’ fromthose high-oil seeds, there was a lot ofdust from pulverized heads and stalksfloating around the combine. It was a“perfect storm” of dangerous proportions— a storm that sometimes produced dam-aging consequences, even for the mostcareful of producers.

Lauren Russell discovered that thehard way. The Selby, S.D., farmer hasgrown sunflower for a long time and isvery attuned to the importance of goodcombine housekeeping. “We’ve alwaysbeen leery of fires,” he says. “We’reextremely tidy because of that danger.”Along with blowing off residue prior toeach day’s harvesting, Russell uses aportable compressor or leaf blower toclean out dust, chaff and fines duringunloading stops out in the field. Also,“before we quit at night, if we smell any-thing or have glowing embers, we’ll washit down so we don’t have something tak-ing off on us while it’s parked.” Fireextinguishers, both dry and water, arestandard on-board equipment.

But such precautions still weren’tenough one afternoon during last fall’ssunflower harvest. “Glowing embers fromthe manifold or exhaust somehow droppedthrough a floor compartment beneath theengine where some wheat chaff and dusthad accumulated,” Russell recounts.

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Though his John Deere STS 9660 hadbeen carefully cleaned prior to heading tothe field that day, “because it was a newcombine for us, we didn’t realize therewas an enclosed compartment under somefalse flooring that allowed the wheat chaffto get in,” he recalls. The fuel tank wasadjacent to that space.

After the fire was discovered, theRussells put it out quickly with their on-board extinguisher. “But it had alreadymelted through the fuel tank and somehydraulic and electric lines,” he relates.The event translated into an $18,000 repairbill — and was further complicated by hisdealer needing to place him on a waitinglist to get a new fuel tank. Russell eventu-ally hired a custom harvester to bring inthe rest of his sunflower crop. Then thelate fall snows became too deep and thecorn too wet to go after his standing corn,“so we hired a Cat combine with tracksand a grain cart with tracks to finally takethe corn off this spring.”

Needless to say, during the 2010 har-vest Russell plans to pay extra attention toany camouflaged compartments or ledgeson his combine where dust, chaff or finescan accumulate. “We’ve had smolderingfires in the past, but nothing as severe aslast year,” he reflects. “I think it was just

the extreme weather conditions andextreme sunflower conditions that createdthe problem.” So it was, then, essentiallya “perfect storm?” “I sure hope so,”Russell quips, “because I don’t want arepeat of it this year!”

Brad Bonhorst a Fort Pierre, S.D., pro-ducer and National Sunflower

Association board member, stronglyagrees that machine cleanliness is of para-mount importance. “The biggest thingyou can do to prevent fires, in my opinion,is sanitation,” Bonhorst emphasizes. “Youdon’t want any residue from the wheat,corn or soybean harvest in the combine,because that just provides fuel.

“And you really need to keep theweather conditions in mind,” he adds. “If

you have low humidity, low moisture inthe seeds, a lack of wind,” that’s going toraise the threat level.

Another NSA board member, JohnSwanson of Mentor, Minn., is a grower inaddition to being the sunflower productmanager for Croplan Genetics. “In my 40years in sunflower, I’ve never heard of afire [when the seeds are] above 11 or 12%moisture unless a bearing went out, orsomething similar,” Swanson observes.“But when you’re down in that 7-8%range, you’ll have that potential for fires.”

And sometimes being prepared for thatpossibility isn’t good enough. Swansonsays he was at a south central NorthDakota farm last fall where the farmer washarvesting seeds at 7%. “They had awater truck in the field and were blowingoff the combines every couple hours,” hesays. But a fire broke out nonetheless,and by the time they got the water truckover to the combine, it was too late andthe implement was destroyed.

Swanson says growers looking atseeds in that 7-8% range may want to con-sider delaying harvest until evening andnighttime hours. “If it’s below 9%, I’dreally consider waiting until you get morehumidity in the air,” he suggests. “And,why not get paid for the water that’s in


‘I’ve never heard of a fire when the seeds are above 11 or 12% moisture unless a bearing went out,

or something similar.’

your ’flowers?” he asks, pointing out thatthe grower “loses” yield by selling anyseeds under the market standard of 10%.

While Lauren Russell agrees with theconcept behind nighttime harvesting, hesays its success will depend at least partlyon wind conditions. Last fall, he triedcombining ’flowers at night when the tem-perature had dropped to around freezing.“We found it didn’t help us much — thereason being that when we got towarddusk, the wind would go down. And thedust would just hang. There was no airmovement. So when we came back on thenext round, we’d drive into the dust of theprevious round — and it would stick onthe windshield and sides of the combine.

“So I like the theory, but that wasn’tthe answer for us last year.”

Another complicating factor for somegrowers, Swanson adds, is Sclerotinia. “Ifyou have [a significant amount of]

Sclerotinia, there’s just more of that whitedust floating around and clinging tomachinery,” he notes.

The whole issue points toward thebenefits of harvesting early, whenever pos-sible, Swanson concludes. “Maximizeyour yields by getting out there on a time-ly basis,” he advises. “And consider usinga desiccant to advance the harvest.”

In the final analysis, perhaps thebiggest assist in minimizing combine firesthis coming fall will come from MotherNature. More “normal” harvesting condi-tions should allow many growers to avoidthose ultra-low seed moisture levels —andthereby sharply reduce the fire risk.

But, emphasize growers and agrono-mists alike, that should not translate intocomplacency. The importance of goodhousekeeping and continual vigilanceshould never be underestimated. — Don Lilleboe �

Nationally, combine and tractor fires cause 40-50 serious injuriesand more than $20 million in property losses each year.That’s according to South Dakota Cooperative Extension Farm

Machinery & Safety Specialist Dick Nicolai, who said these fires alsocost millions of dollars in lost time and downed crops during busyharvest seasons.

“The two keys to preventing a combine fire are to keep themachine clean of possible fire-causing materials and to eliminate allpossible sources of heat that could lead to a fire,” Nicolai says.“Producers should pay special attention to the engine and enginecompartment, since about 75% of all machinery fires start in thatarea.” Farmers can use pressure washers to remove all grease, oiland crop residue. A clean engine will run cooler, operate more effi-ciently and greatly reduce the chance for fire.

“It’s important to frequently blow any dry chaff, leaves and othermaterial off the machine with compressed air, and to clear off anywrapped plant materials on bearings, belts and other moving parts,”Nicolai adds. “If any fuel or oil hoses, fittings or metal lines are leak-ing, make sure to replace or repair them immediately.”

When combining sunflower, producers should back the cylinderor rotor speed down or open the concaves more until you start tosee some seeds left on the head, Nicolai suggests. Also, keep theheader as high as possible to take in the least amount of stalk intothe combine. The objective is to reduce the trash in the combine(and the bin) as much as possible.

Nicolai says combine fires stem most often from exhaust systemcontact with any flammable material. “Make sure your exhaust sys-

tem, including the manifold, muffler and turbocharger, are in goodcondition and free of leaks,” he advises. “Other heat sourcesinclude belts that are slipping and bearings about to fail, so produc-ers should keep an eye out for worn bearings, belts and chains.”Badly worn bearings may glow red-hot, he notes, and any rubberbelt subjected to intense heat from a worn part can burst intoflames.

“Exposed electrical wiring that is damaged or deteriorating canalso cause fires,” Nicolai continues. “Replace any worn or malfunc-tioning electrical components with proper parts from your dealer. Ifyou are blowing fuses or have a circuit that intermittently cuts out,it’s a good sign of a short or loose connection in the system. Arcingelectrical wires on a farm machine will generate extremely high tem-peratures.”

Despite producers’ best intentions and good maintenance, a fireon a tractor or combine can still occur. The best source of protectionfor a combine is at least one fully charged 10-lb. ABC dry-chemicalfire extinguisher, according to the SDSU farm safety specialist.“Only select extinguishers with Underwriters Laboratory approval.

Having two extinguishers on themachine is better, in case one mal-functions or loses pressure,”Nicolai remarks. “Keep one mount-ed in the cab, and one where itcan be reached from the ground.”If a fire does break out on a

machine, quickly shut off theengine, grab an extinguisher, get out and get help. “If you forget tograb the extinguisher, don’t go back for it unless the fire is extremelysmall or confined to an area well away from the cab,” Nicolai says.“Have a cellular phone or two-way radio nearby to get professionalassistance to the field more quickly.”

Producers are warned to approach any fire with extreme cau-tion, because even small fires can flare up dramatically as doors,hatches or other areas are opened. These types of fires are espe-cially dangerous when liquid fuels are involved.

"If possible, use the extinguisher’s flexible hose to shoot thechemical from a safe distance at the base of any flames,” Nicolaistates. “Continue to blanket the flames even after the fire goesdown, since this will allow the area to cool and prevent flare-ups.With a fire in a difficult-to-reach area, or one that seems out of con-trol, don’t risk injury or death. Just wait for help to arrive.” �

Causes of Combine & Tractor Fires

SDSU Farm Machinery & Safety SpecialistProvides Hints on Both Preventing &Responding to Fires During Harvest


Having two fire extinguishers on themachine is better, incase one malfunctionsor loses pressure.

After seeding sunflower on 1,000 acresof hailed-out wheat ground in 2008,

brothers Jerry and Ross Sperry knew theywere looking at a challenging harvest sea-son — especially since they’d alreadyplanted another 1,000 acres of ‘flowers ear-lier that spring. To cover all that ground,

they started searching for a 12-row JohnDeere row-crop header to replace the eight-row unit they had been using. But thatsearch proved fruitless.

Wanting to stick with a JD row-cropmodel, the Blunt, S.D., growers then cameup with the idea of converting their eight-

row into a 12-row unit. After buying a usedsix-row JD head from a neighbor, they con-tacted Harv’s Farm Supply in Giltner, Neb.,a firm that has worked with combine head-ers for more than three decades, custombuilding, rebuilding, repairing and convert-ing heads of numerous makes and models.

Taking delivery on a 12-row / 30” unitframe from Harv’s, Jerry and Ross’ sonGeorge went to work. “I thought my eight-row head was in good shape until we toreinto it,” Jerry quips. “Our neighbor’s six-row — which hadn’t been used in sevenyears — was in much better condition.”

The Sperrys replaced the bearings oneight of the row units and replaced the beltson all 12. Some also received new knives.They then installed their own rear screenand side shields and repainted the cus-tomized 12-row header. Jerry estimatestheir total investment — including the newframe and the six-row purchased header —came to about $20,000. “And as soon aswe were done with it, a guy offered me$30,000,” he chuckles. “So I guess wemade the right decision.”

Including custom work for neighbors,the Sperrys ran the 12-row header (mountedon their JD 9760 combine) across about3,000 acres of sunflower in 2008. Thatyear’s crop averaged around 2,500 lbs/ac.In 2009 they used it on about 1,000 acres,averaging about 2,200 lbs. They expect tocover around 800 acres of ’flowers thiscoming harvest. — Don Lilleboe �

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Photo: Don Lilleboe


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Sure you do. You know exactly what“SNP” stands for. It’s single-

nucleotide polymorphism, right? OK, so maybe that term is not part of

most folks’ everyday vocabulary. Butthose three letters — SNP — carry hugeimplications for the future of the sun-flower industry.

SNPs (pronounced “snips”) were onhardly anyone’s radar a decade ago. Backthen, had you asked even a group of plantscientists what the term meant, most prob-ably would have said it had something todo with getting a haircut.

Today, however, the crop science com-munity and the seed industry know thatSNP-related technology holds vital keys tothe development of the hybrids that willbe planted by farmers in years to come.

SNPs fall into the complex world ofDNA, chromosomes, genetic mapping andsequencing — a world that’s basic to ani-mal and plant life, but also one that’slargely unfamiliar to most of us. SNPs are

DNA markers, pieces of DNA located inor near a gene. Knowing the nature andlocation of markers within a given organ-ism’s chromosome structure allows scien-tists to determine that organism’s uniqueDNA sequence pattern. As molecularbiologists and plant breeders become moreadept at “fingerprinting” an organism’sgenetic makeup, they likewise are muchmore efficient at pinpointing useful traitsand plugging those traits into new breed-ing populations and, eventually, commer-cial varieties.

Brent Hulke, research geneticist withthe USDA-ARS Sunflower Research Unitat Fargo, N.D., uses the analogy of digitalcamera development to illustrate this con-cept. Think back to the first generation ofdigital cameras, he suggests; then comparethat with today’s advanced high-resolutiondigital cameras. “Ten years ago, youcould barely get a small photo from a digi-tal camera to appear decent,” Hulke pointsout. “Now, images from digital cameras

can be blown up to the size of wall muralsand still retain their integrity.”

That comparison can be extrapolatedinto the realms of traditional plant breed-ing methodology and the new genomicapproaches incorporating SNPs.Traditional methods focus on phenotyping— i.e., working through large populationsin the lab, the greenhouse and out in thefield to visually determine which lines orcrosses carry the trait(s) one is seeking.Crossing and backcrossing through multi-ple generations is required to get thedesired trait(s) into finished lines withoutdragging along undesired traits.

“SNPs allow for detailed analysis ofbreeding populations using methods we’venever used before,” Hulke emphasizes.“And because of computers, we’ll be ableto make this [process] even easier andcheaper in the future.

“Up until now, markers have beenpieces of DNA that, in most cases, are notassociated directly with [specific] genes,”he continues. “They’re just ‘hooks.’ Soit’s kind of like putting a stake next to arock in a field. You can’t put that stakedirectly on the rock; but you can place itby the rock. And you just hope the nexttime you see that stake out in the field,you don’t end up hitting the rock withyour tractor.

“But with SNPs, we’re going to a tech-nology that can actually ‘put the stakeright through the middle of the rock.’We’re to the point now where we can easi-ly get SNPs that are actually a part of thegene of interest.”

Hulke uses downy mildew resistanceas an example of how SNP technology canreally pay dividends. With so many dif-ferent races of downy mildew and somany different sources of resistance in thesunflower plant world, “putting multiple

SNP, SNP, SNPSunflower Sector Initiates High-Tech Breeding InitiativeDesigned to Help Crank Out New Hybrids Faster

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genes for downy mildew resistance togeth-er in the same breeding line is very diffi-cult,” he says. In 2009, for instance,Hulke and ARS plant pathologist TomGulya and their team spent about threemonths just testing and retesting fordowny mildew resistance.

“But if we had markers for eachdowny mildew resistance gene — a mark-er within the gene itself — we would havea very trustworthy marker that could beused in virtually every breeding applica-tion.” The much faster — and more cost-effective — procedure could conceivably

reduce the three months of work men-tioned earlier down to a week or two,Hulke envisions.

Sclerotinia resistance is another primearea for SNP dividends. Hulke says theARS group currently has data on 262diverse lines of sunflower from around theworld with varying degrees of Sclerotiniaresistance. “If we can tie that very bigdata set with a very big set of markers —[e.g.,] 10,000 — we would be able to getdown nearly to the gene level with mark-ers and possibly find key resistance geneswithin a full set of 262 lines,” he observes.

“This is unprecedented, because we havebeen doing it two lines at a time. Sowe’re going from two to 262.” The bot-tom line is that such technology wouldallow scientists to become much moreefficient at finding resistance toSclerotinia and incorporating it into com-mercial sunflower hybrids.

There’s much more scope and detail tothe SNP/sunflower story, of course.

The ultimate goal of those entities andindividuals involved is to keep sunflowerprofitable for growers — which in turn

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keeps the overall industry viable andhealthy.

That objective is taking on an addedurgency due to other crops already utiliz-ing such technology. That’s making suchcrops more competitive — which thenthreatens sunflower’s acreage base andpotential growth as an industry.

“Over the past couple years, there hasbeen a lot of discussion about how othercrops are able to bring [desired] traits tothe market a lot faster than we can in sun-flower,” notes Steve Kent, president ofSeeds 2000 and current chairman of theNational Sunflower Association Research

Committee. “As an industry, it becamemore urgent when seed corn companiesrecently announced they will be introduc-ing drought-tolerant corn varieties into the

marketplace in the very near future.”Why is that development so important

to the sunflower sector? “Sunflower haslong been known as a drought-tolerantcrop,” Kent points out. “One of thethreats we see from crops like drought-tol-erant corn would be those crops movinginto our main production areas.”

Sunflower seed companies and otherindustry leaders “realized we cannot con-tinue to ‘plod along’ at the rate we havebeen,” Kent notes. “Not that we haven’tmade progress; we have. But we need toprogress faster.”

In March, the National SunflowerAssociation Board of Directors heard rec-ommendations from its research commit-tee on projects for funding. The boardalso invited a presentation by representa-tives from BioDiagnostics, Inc., a RiverFalls, Wis.-based company that focuses onthe development of DNA-based diagnosticservices for the seed industry. The NSAboard then voted to immediately allocate$100,000 to initiate research aimed atfacilitating marker-assisted breeding insunflower.

Within a week, the NSA ResearchCommittee had assembled a group of pub-lic and private breeders to put the projectin motion. The first priority, Kent reports,“was to identify six sunflower breedinglines that had a great diversity in theirgenetic background, to begin the initialsequencing of those lines as the first stepin the marker-assisted development.” Thatprocess is underway.

The next step, Kent explains, “is todevelop a higher-throughput technologythat allows marker-assisted breeding to becost-effective.” Doing so required a com-mitment of 960 breeding lines from thepublic and private sectors “in order toraise enough money and to match up withthe number of lines that can be done in abatch.” This large number of lines willalso allow sunflower scientists to find anduse the most-informative markers in futurestudies.

Part of the $100,000 NSA allocationwent toward the first phase (sequencing).The second phase of fingerprinting ismuch more expensive, requiring $250,000.That pot of money was put together quick-ly, with some funds coming from the NSAand USDA. The rest of this round offunding is coming from several sunflowerseed companies — each of which hascommitted a minimum of 100 lines and$25,000 to the program.

“It’s amazing that in a few shortmonths, our industry not only recognizedthe importance of developing this technol-ogy, but is also doing something about it,”Kent concludes.

“We are moving in the right direction.”— Don Lilleboe �


‘It’s amazing that in a fewshort months, our industry not only recognized the importance of developing this technology, but is alsodoing something about it.’

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Hands-on assistance from USDA togrowers experiencing blackbird prob-

lems is available for the 2010 season. The National Sunflower Association

has been working with U.S. senators fromthe Dakotas and Minnesota to ensure fund-ing for this important program. The fund-ing allows USDA’s Wildlife Services toplace parttime employees in multi-countydistricts throughout the production regionthat is most vulnerable to bird damage.(See the accompanying map.)

Propane cannons with automatic timersare provided on loan to growers, andpyrotechnics may be provided as well,depending upon the situation. The USDApersonnel will assist in placing the cannonsin key areas around the field, based ontheir best experience.

Phil Mastrangelo, USDA WildlifeService state director in Bismarck, N.D.,manages the program and states that theeffectiveness of cannons can be enhancedwhen elevated on a platform or trailer.“Moving the cannons every three days willbe helpful as well, so if they are on a trail-er, it makes that process much easier forthe grower,” Mastrangelo says. Periodic

use of live ammunition in the field willgreatly enhance the cannons as well.“Federal and state law allow producers toshoot birds that are damaging crops; theaddition of lethal control reinforces theeffect of any of the frightening devices”.

Mastrangelo reminds producers thatthere are two types of blackbird popula-

tions. The early damage comes from whatare called “local” birds comprised of localbreeding birds and young hatched birds.All these birds are missing wing feathersbecause of their annual molt. Most of theirdamage occurs during early petal drop intomid-September. These flocks are usuallysmall but difficult to move because of theirinability to fly longer distances. The objec-tive with this population is to move themthrough harassment to other feedingsources such as small grain stubble. This iswhere the cannons and periodic shootingcan be most successful.

The other population consists of the“migrators,” which begin to form largerflocks for their southern movement. Thatusually happens around mid-September orwhen a distinct weather shift occurs. Themigrators are easier to move, but theirflock numbers can be considerable.Substantial damage can occur when a largeflock settles into a field.

Mastrangelo will deal with these largerflocks by sending in multiple personnel toharass the birds. “We station one or twopersons in the sunflower field and anotherone or more persons near the wetland,” heexplains. “In this way, the birds areharassed in their preferred feeding loca-tions and roosting wetlands and usuallydecide to move on.”

The key to making this program work,Mastrangelo emphasizes, is for the

farmer and his USDA contact to form apartnership and be in close communica-tion. “If the grower is all of a sudden get-ting hit with huge bird numbers, we needto know that as soon as possible in order toredirect personnel.” He adds that workingwith the grower, the USDA personnel wantto identify wetlands that have lots of cat-tails and are a great roosting area forblackbirds. “We want to eliminate thosecattails through our cattail spraying pro-gram. That is one of the best long-termsolutions,” says Mastrangelo.

Dr. George Linz of the USDA NationalWildlife Research Center says that repel-lents have their place as well. “We havetested a number of repellents with mixedresults — which is not uncommon due tovariables of rainfall, temperature and birdbehavior, Linz says. He recommends usingthem if the grower finds that they work.

Linz’s group is field testing a com-pound that appears to have good potential.That testing is being conducted in nettedcages to determine rates and residue.

Linz adds that more chemical compa-nies are looking at the bird repellent mar-ket. “It is a large untapped market,” henotes. “Many berry, vine and fruit cropsget hit hard by bird depredation. These arehigh-value crops, and netting is usually noteconomical.” — Larry Kleingartner �

It’s That (Blackbird)

Time of the YearHelp Is Available to Affected Growers

Through USDA Wildlife Services Program


Contact Persons in Regions for Blackbird AssistanceA: Mark Monti - Berthold, ND - 701-390-3715B: Sherwood Haakenson - WillowCity, ND - 701-390-3964C: Nat Bornsen - Larimore, ND - 701-425-1876D: Glen Baltrusch - Harvey, ND - 701-390-3714E: Mel Fortner - Hazelton, ND - 701-425-2011F: Rod O’Clair - Jamestown, ND - 701-390-4001G: Ron Gore - Finley, ND - 701-425-1487H: Joel Lyons - McLeod, ND - 701-439-2022I: Pete Sahr - Minnesota - 218-327-3350Contact the Wildlife Services office in Bismarck (701-250-4405) if thecell phone numbers cannot be reached. All other areas in South Dakota -Tim Pugh at (605-224-8692)

Shrinkage is a desirable developmentwhen it involves your waistline. But

when it brings the moisture of your mar-ket-bound sunflower seeds down below10%, it’s costing you money.

Sunflower producers know that har-vesting their crop at moisture levels below10% can be detrimental in at least threeways. First, it likely will result in moreshattering and seed loss at the header.Second, if low enough (7-8%), it willincrease the risk of combine fires. Andthird, a low-moisture crop will weigh lessthan a 10% or higher one, meaning fewerdollars at the marketplace.

It’s thus another reason, too, not tooverdry seeds beyond what is prudent for

short- or long-term storage, depending onyour market timing intentions.*

Some shrinkage takes place at the ele-vator or other delivery site. Foreign mate-rial aside, there inevitably is a certainamount of handling loss (spillage, dustblowing off the piles, etc.). These areitems over which the producer has no con-trol, and they’ll vary from site to site. The

elevator typically factors in such shrinkageinto its handling charges.

But then there is “moisture shrink.”This term refers to the weight loss in grainresulting from the drying of that graindown to a particular moisture content.Moisture shrink is a straightforward num-ber, points out North Dakota StateUniversity extension ag engineer KenHellevang. “We have an equation thattells us that if we remove a given quantityof water from our grain — be it sunflower,wheat or corn — we’ll have a certainweight loss associated with it. Thatweight loss is what we call ‘moistureshrink,’ ” he notes.

Table 1 on the following page showsthe percentage reduction in weight — aconstant value — based upon the finalmoisture content of the grain. Table 2indicates the actual pounds one loses (orgains) at crop moistures below and above10%.

“If working with sunflower, whosemarket standard is 10% moisture, theshrink is going to be 1.111% for everypoint of moisture removal,” Hellevangpoints out. “If we take off five percentagepoints, we know our shrink will total5.555%.” So drying 100 pounds of sun-flower seed at 15% moisture down to 10%would result in a cumulative moistureshrink loss of 5.56 pounds, for a net seedweight of 94.44 pounds.

Hellevang advises producers to famil-iarize themselves — in advance of harvest— with their elevator’s shrink and otherdiscount policies. And remember, he says,that while moisture discount schedules canvary from elevator to elevator (and alsofrom date to date at the same facility),“moisture shrink” is a constant value. —Don Lilleboe �

The Cost of

MoistureShrink


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Formulas Help Calculate MoistureShrink Factor & Seed Weight Loss

(or Gain) at Various Moisture Levels

________________________

* Ken Hellevang points out that thoughthe market moisture content is 10%, oilsunflower seed will need to be at 8%moisture content to safely store throughsummer. Storing 10% sunflower duringthe summer would be similar to storing15% moisture wheat.

Table 1. Moisture ShrinkFactors for Drying Grain toVarious Moisture Levels

Table 2. Weight of SunflowerAt Various Moisture Contents,Compared to Market Standard

Final MoistureContent (%)

15.014.514.013.513.012.512.011.511.010.510.09.59.08.58.07.57.06.05.0

Moisture Content (%)

5.56.06.57.07.58.08.59.09.510.010.511.011.512.012.513.013.514.014.515.0

Moisture Shrink Factor(% Shrink Per Point ofMoisture Removed)

1.17651.16961.16281.15611.14941.14291.13641.12991.12361.11731.11111.10501.09891.09291.08701.08111.07531.06381.0526

Seed Weight(Cwt. Basis)

95.2495.7496.2696.7897.3097.8398.3698.9099.45100.00100.56101.12101.69102.28102.86103.46104.05104.66105.26105.89


The voluntary assessment paid by pro-ducers for sunflower sold in Kansas willincrease starting September 1, 2010. In April of this year, the eight-member KansasSunflower Commission (KSC) voted toincrease the checkoff from 3.0 to 5.0cents/cwt. The assessment rate has been3.0 cents since inception of the commissionin 2002. Kansas law gives the commissionauthority to assess up to 6.0 cents/cwt. Thelaw also provides that producers who wish toreceive a refund of the assessment may

simply provide evidence of the assessmentcharges within one year of sale.Voluntary checkoff dollars are used for

promotion of the commodity and its productsas well as research on variety of issue relat-ed to sunflower production. “We really needto help our Kansas producers find somesolutions to the barriers on sunflower pro-duction, particularly weed control,” says KarlEsping, commission chair. The Kansas Department of Agriculture

will be sending notification, new paperworkand forms to all first purchasers around thestate prior to this year’s harvest. �

Kansas Checkoff Rate Hiked

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Back long ago — about two weeks, to be exact, which is an eter-nity in baseball terms — when the Hutchinson Monarchs were

in the midst of their well-documented offensive funk, a couple ofplayers took drastic measures to end the slump.

“They took dirt dips,” said former Hutch Blue Dragon pitcherZach Biery, who told the tale, but spared himself what promised tobe a terrible predicament by choosing to protect the identities of theteammates involved.

I wanted names. I wanted the dirt. Figuratively speaking, ofcourse. But he wasn’t budging. So I him asked to explain what theheck a dirt dip was.

“To start a rally, they grabbed a little pinch of dirt and put itbetween their cheek and gum,” he said about as matter-of-factly ashe was capable of doing without crinkling his face into the lookthat told just how disgusting this act really was.

Whatever it takes to awaken the bats, right?Two weeks later, all is well. The Monarchs busted out of their

funk — 35 runs in the four games (all victories) of the NBC quali-fier this week at Hobart-Detter Field is a pretty good indicator ofthat — and while no one is crediting the dirt dips for the dramaticturnaround, there has been no mud-slinging (get it?) to refute thepractice’s slump-busting capabilities, either.

Let's just file this one under “D” for drastic times call for dras-tic measures.

It was a last-ditch effort that couldn’t have come at a bettertime. The Monarchs have qualified for the National BaseballCongress World Series, which begins Friday. The unfortunate partof it all is that Lawrence-Dumont Stadium — the hallowed groundto the baseball tournament that boasts a historic past with formerplayers like Bonds, Pujols and Clemens — is a place where spittingis strictly prohibited.

In fact, it markets itself — through countless public-addressannouncements — as a “tobacco-free, sunflower seed-free stadi-um,” not just on the playing field, but in the stands, too.

No dirt dips.No chewing tobacco.And above all, no sunflower seeds.

Welcome to the new generation of baseball, a sport that cut itscollective teeth on the art of spitting. What”s next? No

scratching? No crotch adjustments? Why not just take their gloves

Sp it t in’ Ma d

Over Sunflower Seed Ban

By Pat Sangimino

Editor’s Note: This column by Pat Sangimino appeared in a lateJuly issue of the Hutchinson News, Hutchinson, Kan. It is reprintedhere with permission. Needless to say, our vote goes in favor ofkeeping sunflower seeds at the ballpark . . .

Art

ist:

Mar

cella

Ros

e


and bats away and call it soccer.Actually, the tobacco rule makes sense.

Lawrence-Dumont is a city-owned stadiumand with a statewide smoking ban in place,it seems fair that the smokeless tobaccousers should have to suffer, too. It’s proba-bly good for business — even if it doesn'tshow in the Wichita Wingnuts' attendancefigures. You wouldn’t want to be watchinga ballgame, munching a hot dog while theguy next to you was creating a nasty brownpuddle in your vicinity.

“I always bring a cup to spit in when I'mwatching a game in the stands,” Biery said.

But what happens to that cup once it'sfilled?

’Nuff said.The moratorium on sunflower seeds

makes less sense — at least in the grand-stand. While there is a ban on sunflowerseeds, venders hawk peanuts throughout thestadium. Do the math and you'll find thatpeanut shells, bigger in mass and containingthat messy brown skin, create far morewaste than sunflower seeds, which aremuch smaller in size.

It should also be noted that banningsunflower seeds in the Sunflower Stateseems wrong.

As more ballparks go to artificial turf,sunflower seeds have become a field-main-tenance nightmare. There is a company innearby Harper that created a riding vacuumcleaner that it has sold to a number ofMajor League ballparks, Yankee Stadiumincluded, but it is expensive — probablyway out of the budget of most minor-leagueand college teams.

Sunflower seeds are prohibited atNorthwestern State in Natchitoches, La.,too. But somehow sunflower seeds findtheir way to the field. Darn visiting teams.It then becomes the postgame job of thefreshmen on the baseball team to pick theshells out of the turf — one by one.

"It's a bad job," said Monarchs designat-ed hitter Stephen Gandy, who turned 20yesterday and will be a sophomore atNorthwestern in the fall, meaning his daysof picking up seeds are behind him."Freshmen have to do it. It's a pain. I under-stand why (sunflower seeds) are notallowed."

All cleanup aside, baseball without sun-flower seeds is lacking. You've heard

of the soap scrimmage before football sea-son - get in free if you bring a bar of soap,which will be used throughout the seasonby the team - one high school baseball teamin eastern Kansas had its annual SpitScrimmage. Admittance is free if youdonated a bag of sunflower seeds.

Anyone who has ever played knowsthat the back pocket of a pair of baseballpants has no other purpose than for storageof a handful of seeds. The David Co., the

nation's largest producer of sunflower seeds,is a proud sponsor of Major LeagueBaseball. Walk into any big-league club-house and there are packs of seeds every-where.

Another sunflower seed company hasnamed itself by its appropriate baseballname — Spitz.

Ballplayers have grown up with them."I go through stages where I chew sun-

flower seeds," said Monarchs first basemanAndy Petz, a senior-to-be at WashburnUniversity. "Right now, I'm at a stage whereI am not doing seeds when I play."

That said, he will adjust. So will mostplayers.

Maybe the bigger issue this week atLawrence-Dumont Stadium might be howto enforce the no-spit rule. After all, thereare times when the guys hired to enforcethe rules are the biggest culprits.

"Nobody really hides it out there,"Biery said. "You'll see umpires chewing abig wad of tobacco in a game. It's notsomething that is enforced. Players aregoing to try to get away with as much asthey can in a game."

Oh well. Spit happens. �


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The Sunflower is 35 years old! Volume 1 Number 1 of this mag-azine rolled off the press in August 1975. Its publisher was the

newly formed Sunflower Association of America (SAA), the prede-cessor organization to the National Sunflower Association (NSA).

The Sunflower itself was preceded by The National SunflowerGrower, a monthly one-color magazine (printed on yellow paper)published by the National Sunflower Growers Association (NSGA).Based at Northwood, N.D., NSGA was a membership-based groupformed in 1968 and led by longtime sunflower producer (and laterSAA and NSA board member) Marvin Klevberg.

The first issue of The National Sunflower Grower, edited byPage, N.D., area producer Bill Conrad, came out in February 1974.The final issue was July 1975. In it, Marv Klevberg wrote that thesunflower publication transition over to the SAA and TheSunflower was to everyone’s benefit. He noted that the new full-color magazine would open the door for more feature articles andenhanced opportunities for advertisers. The SAA, he wrote, “repre-sents growers, industry, processors, exporters, seedsmen,researchers, etc., and will give it the financial and informationalsupport required to make it a better and bigger magazine.” WhileThe National Sunflower Grower had a circulation of around 3,000,the first issue of The Sunflower numbered 10,000 — with projec-tions up to 15,000. (About 29,500 copies were printed of thisAugust/ September 2010 issue of The Sunflower.)

The SAA was more of an industry-wide organization. Its mem-bership included seed companies, elevators, seed exporters, thegrowers’ group, confection processors, oilseed crushers and otherentities with a direct stake in the burgeoning industry. The SAA’sfirst president was Ralph Taylor, president of Dahlgren &Company, based at Crookston, Minn.

In his column in The Sunflower’s first issue, Taylor noted that the“idea for the formation of the Sunflower Association of America

was first brought about by the advent of the Contarinia Schulzi(Sunflower Midge), which I am sure we all remember as being asevere problem in the sunflower growing area a few years back.This effectively brought together all interest[s] of the sunflower

industry in trying to conquer this insect pest. Since that time, therehave been periodic meetings and some research sponsorship by thegroup in order to promote and expand the acreage and market forsunflowers."

The intended purpose of The Sunflower, Taylor added, was to“provide a vehicle for the dessemination (sic) of information, aplace for commercial companies to display their wares and newinnovations through advertising, and a place for researchers toreport their findings and make them available to the sunflowerinterest.”

Articles in that August 1975 issue of The Sunflower included:• “Bees & Sunflower” — A summary of the importance of bees

in sunflower pollination, provided by the North Dakota Departmentof Agriculture.

• “Task Force and Field Day” — A report on sunflowerresearch and industry developments in the Texas Panhandle.

• “Working Conference on Research” — A discussion of anational food and agriculture conference in Kansas City at whichsunflower was one of the featured crops.

• “Sunflowers, Margarine, Health” — An overview of sun-flower oil’s use in margarines and the related health benefits.

• “Plains Cooperative Oil Mill” — A feature on the Texas cottonseed crusher that was contracting for sunflower productionand crushing the seeds at its Lubbock mill.

• “Agricomments” — A synopsis of sunflower seed and oilmarkets, by Agricom International’s Joe Smith.

• “Estimated Production Cost for Sunflowers” — An NDSUreport pegged total direct costs at $44.77 per acre, plus fixed costsof $57.06, for total of $101.83.

• “SAA Committee Reports” — From chairmen of the SAA’sresearch, grades/standards, publication and finance committees.

• “Paraquat Cleared for Oil Use Sunflowers” — Desiccantreceives label for use on oil-type sunflower seeds.

• “New Sunflower Publication Available” — NDSU issues firstedition of its popular Extension Bulletin 25, Sunflower Production,Pests and Marketing. (Updated editions have been published in1978, 1985, 1994 and 2007.) �

The SunflowerMarks 35 Years!


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Sunflower Cheese Balls4 ounces Muenster cheese, room temp.4 ounces cream cheese, room temp.1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce1/4 teaspoon paprika1/8 teaspoon red pepper2/3 cup roasted, salted sunflower kernels

Combine cheeses, blend thoroughly.(Use food processor, if possible.) AddWorcestershire sauce, paprika and redpepper; blend. Refrigerate at least 30minutes. Roll in sunflower kernels

immediately. Refrigerate cheese balls 2 hours. Serve with whole-grain crackers, bread sticks or miniature bread slices. Makes 25cheese balls.

Sunflower, Cranberry & Oat Granola Bars

1 1/2 cups quick rolled oats 3/4 cup sunflower kernel, roasted and salted1/2 cup coconut1/2 cup cranberries, dried, sweetened 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ1/4 cup whole-wheat flour1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon1/2 tsp. nutmeg1/3 cup sunflower margarine 1/3 cup packed brown sugar1/3 cup honey

Preheat oven to 350º F. In bowl, stir together rolled oats, sun-flower kernel, coconut, cranberries, wheat germ, whole-wheatflour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside. Melt margarine; stir brownsugar and honey into melted margarine; bring to a boil; removefrom heat. Pour margarine mixture over rolled oats mixture; stiruntil well coated. Press granola bar mixture into greased 8-x 8-x 2-inch square baking pan. Sprinkle with additional sunflower kerneland coconut if desired.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until slightly browned around edges;remove from oven. While bars are warm, press surface gently withback of spoon to flatten; score into bars with knife. Cool complete-ly; cut and serve. Makes 24 bars.

Per Serving — calories, 102; protein, 2 g; carbohydrates, 15 g;fiber, 1 g; fat, 4 g; cholesterol, 0; sodium, 46 mg

Artichoke Sunflower DipGreat party fare served with baked chips or crackers and yet heartyenough for a pita sandwich filling.

1-15 ounce can cannelloni or other white beans, rinsed and drained 2-3 garlic cloves1-15 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped1/3 cup reduced fat mayonnaise 1-2 ounce jar diced pimentos1/4 teaspoon saltjuice of one lemon or lime4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled1/2 cup roasted and salted sunflower kernels

Puree beans and garlic in a food processor; empty into a mixingbowl. Stir in artichoke hearts, mayonnaise, pimentos, salt andlemon juice. Turn into a Pyrex pie pan and sprinkle with cheeseand sunflower kernels.

Broil 4-6 inches from heat for 5-7 minutes, until bubbly andgolden brown. Serve warm with crackers, pita or toasted bread.Makes 22 servings of 3 tablespoons

Per Serving — calories, 75; total fat, 3.8 g; carbohydrate, 7 g; saturated fat, 0.3 g; dietary fiber, 0; cholesterol, 4.5 mg; protein, 3.4g; sodium, 168 mg; calcium, 43 mg

SunshinesDough —17 1/2 oz finished puff pastry5 1/3 oz lightly roasted crushedsunflower kernelsWash —2 egg yolks3 1/2 oz sunflower kernels1 3/4 oz sesame seeds or poppy

seeds or a mixture of both

Preheat oven to 400° F. Roll out the puff pastry dough to athickness of 1-1/2 inches, incorporating sunflower kernels. Roll thedough out to 7 inches long. Brush top of the dough with egg yolkand sprinkle with sunflower kernels.

Turn dough over and brush with egg white and sprinkle withsesame seeds. Cut into 1-inch thick strips and twist the strips.Place on a baking sheet and bake until golden for 15 to 18 minutes.Yields 35 pieces.

Caramelized Sunflower Kernels

Double or triple this little recipe and keep these yummy treatson hand. Keep them at room temperature in a tightly sealed con-tainer and crunch away at will!

1/3 cup raw sunflower seed kernels2 tablespoons brown sugar

Heat sunflower kernels in a non-stick skillet about 3 minutesover medium-high heat. Stir in the brown sugar, stirring constantlyuntil melted and kernels are coated. Turn out onto waxed paper tocool. Use as a snack or sprinkle on salads, fruit, or sweet potatoes.Makes 4 servings.

Per Serving — calories, 94; total fat, 6 g; carbohydrate, 9 g; saturated fat, <1 g; dietary fiber, 1 g; cholesterol, 0; Protein, 3 g;Sodium, 3 mg; calcium, 16 mg

SunflowerRecipes

For Additional Recipes, Visit

www.sunflowernsa.com

Click on ‘Health & Nutrition’

TheBiggest

NewsUnder

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the sunflower grower august/september 2010

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