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PRESORTED FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID ROCHESTER, NY PERMIT NO. 491 P.O. Box 22958 Rochester, NY 14692 Issues and Answers for Sunflower Growers Upcoming Events Welcome to the second edition of Breaking Ground for 2013 — a newsletter devoted to sunflower growers. Breaking Ground will be coming to you regularly, with information about the issues you face as a grower, opportunities to meet with your neighbors at events, and online resources to make your job easier. Sclerotinia White Mold – A Particular Challenge for Sunflower Growers 2014 NSA Research Forum Fargo, ND January 8–9, 2014 Come participate with FMC in the 2014 NSA Research Forum, where reports on research will promote discussion in the sunflower industry. Extremely patient, devastating to yields and particularly difficult to manage in sunflowers, Sclerotinia white mold has become a prime foe of growers in the upper Great Plains. Despite control efforts, the destructive fungus shrugs off rescue treatments, hides in the soil, then reappears years later to wither flower heads and spread inoculant all over again. Sclerotinia’s resilience begins with its ability to create sclerotia, the small, black, rat dropping-like structures that fall from infected plants. Extremely stable, sclerotia may wait in the soil three years or more for timely rains to coincide with flowering. When they do, sclerotia germinate an eraser-sized sac that releases thousands of spores into the canopy. Sclerotinia can attack more than 400 plant species, but broadleaf flowers, sunflower petals in particular, are especially susceptible to white mold infection. In row crops, wider plant spacing allows sunlight to help break down sclerotia and wind to lower spore density, providing some reduction of inoculant. Among sunflowers, (Continued inside) How Growers Are Accessing Ag Info Online Search/Shop Equip This past spring, FMC polled Breaking Ground sunflower growers to find out what devices growers used to find agricultural data on the Internet. The results showed that while mobile devices such as tablets are being utilized more, traditional computers are still the most commonly used device for research. SUN_2013-2 Investing in farming’s future. Always read and follow label directions. FMC is a trademark of FMC Corporation. © 2013 FMC Corporation. All rights reserved. F10033-003. Health-Minded Consumers Build the Market for Sunflower Oil While the average consumer image of sunflowers may be as a decorative piece or as a ballpark snack, the truth is that only about 20 percent of U.S. production goes to confectionary uses. The majority of sunflowers, roughly 460,000 metric tons in 2013, will be raised for oil and enter the consumer market looking like almost anything but salted seeds in a bag. Consumer preferences, along with the development of high Standout uses and mid-oleic sunflower for sunflower oil “Changing attitudes varieties, have helped include granola continue to help open redefine the vegetable oil bars and coating market. Healthier oils, markets once dominated of dried fruits, but high in oleic fatty acids it can show up by soybean and and low in saturated and anywhere. While other oils.” trans-fats, are no longer bottled oil for the a niche but the industry kitchen is still an standard. Modern, non-genetically important sunflower market, most U.S. modified sunflower varieties combine production finds its way into processed these preferred traits with a neutral foods. Thousands of products requiring flavor profile that makes sunflower a natural flavoring and extended shelf oil the natural choice for many life include high or mid-oleic sunflower applications. oil among their ingredients. While sunflower oil has always (Continued inside) Sclerotinia White Mold (Continued) the dense canopy provides shade and shelter for spores and sclerotia, which prefer cool, damp conditions and generally must remain densely grouped to successfully colonize a flower. Once Sclerotinia has colonized a plant and developed into white mold, control efforts are largely ineffective. Natural resilience may eventually become an option. Sunflower breeders continue to work on making plants hardier to colonization by Sclerotinia spores, but true resistance may be long in coming. In the more immediate future, biological control may provide a prevention option, though not yet a treatment. An antagonistic fungus, which breaks down sclerotia, has provided preventive relief against Sclerotinia in soybeans, dry beans and vegetables. North Dakota State University is currently testing this option at its research facility in Carrington, ND. Always read and follow label directions. FMC is a trademark of FMC Corporation. ©2013 FMC Corporation. All rights reserved. F100-030606 9/13 Weeds don’t always go down easy — sometimes it takes a one-two punch to make way for maximum harvest potential. That is what no-till and conventional sunflower growers are finding when they use BroadAxe® herbicide for preemergence protection from yield-robbing early season weeds. Fungicides, of limited use across all crops, are particularly limited in sunflowers because of their inability to reach downturned flower faces and make contact with infected tissue. So far, crop rotation remains the best management tool for sunflower growers. Avoiding consecutive seasons of broadleaf crops helps limit sclerotia carryover in areas at risk, but not yet heavy with Sclerotinia. Heavily infected areas require three years or more without a broadleaf crop to clear out residual inoculant. Health-Minded Consumers (Continued) contained only trace amounts of linolenic acid (the oil component which contributes flavor to oil but is often converted to trans-fat to improve stability), traditional sunflower oil also contains only 20 percent oleic acid, the preferred, unsaturated oil fat. Midoleic sunflower oil, the most common type produced in the United States, contains 65 percent or more oleic acid. High oleic sunflower oil contains 82 percent or more, a higher percentage than high oleic soybean oil or olive Investing in farming’s future. BroadAxe® – Two Actives for Dominant Control of Broadleaves, Grasses Combining a trusted active ingredient for control of Russian thistle, Palmer amaranth, morningglories, lambsquarters and others, with another that is tough on waterhemp, pigweed and foxtails, BroadAxe provides two chemistries in a single product which remains active longer than either product does by itself. oil, which has traditionally been recognized for its healthy properties. Changing attitudes continue to help open markets once dominated by soybean and other oils. Fried foods have traditionally been one of these exclusive markets. However, research has shown that French fries and potato chips prepared with sunflower oil take on as strong a flavor and last as long as or longer than those cooked with soy. A number of major potato chip makers looking to reduce or remove trans-fats now include sunflower oil as part of their recipe. Another nationally recognized brand, Chipotle restaurants, now uses sunflower oil exclusively in their fryers, in part because there is no such thing as a GMO sunflower. As consumer preferences move toward the choice of healthier oils, the sunflower continues to provide. Always read and follow label directions. FMC is a trademark of FMC Corporation. ©2013 FMC Corporation. All rights reserved. F100-030606 9/13 Across 11 university trials conducted in 2010 and 2011 from North Dakota to Texas,1 BroadAxe demonstrated 99 percent control of kochia, Palmer amaranth and Russian thistle (including ALS-resistant varieties), 60 days after application at a rate of 25-oz/A. Among key weeds measured, including foxtails, pigweed, common lambsquarters and barnyardgrass, BroadAxe consistently provided 90 percent or greater 45- to 60-day control at 25-oz/A and 95 percent control at 35 oz/A. Crop safety is excellent when applied as directed. Reduced rates of BroadAxe are suggested on lighter and high pH soils to avoid damage. A flexible formulation means BroadAxe can easily be tank-mixed with other herbicide partners to manage the small-seeded broadleaf and grass component of any sunflower weed complex. The same studies found that the 35oz rate of BroadAxe returned a 4,000 “Growers and “Growers and pound-per-acre researchers are finding researchers are finding yield advantage BroadAxe a powerful BroadAxe a powerful over similar rates partner for control of partner for control of of products using key sunflower weeds either active key sunflower weeds early on with residual ingredient alone, early on with residual while the 25-oz control into the season.” control into the season,” said Sam Lockhart, rate returned a FMC Agricultural 2,000 poundSolutions technical sales per-acre advantage. manager. “It’s consistent across the Best practices for BroadAxe are weed spectrum, leaves plants open generally simple and work with limited for a great start that protects yield or no-till management strategies. potential.” The herbicide is at its best in low or minimum till systems with little or no incorporation. As with similar products, BroadAxe requires timely rainfall – one-half to one inch – for full activation and residual. Early application is encouraged within the product’s 14-day preplant and 3-day postplant application window to increase chances for full activation. BroadAxe will not break down in the sun waiting for moisture. Always read and follow label directions. FMC and BroadAxe are trademarks of FMC Corporation. ©2013 FMC Corporation. All rights reserved. F100-030606 9/13 Reference (1)Richard Zollinger, Jerry Ries, and Angela Kazmiercsak. Sunflower Weed Control – Update and Issues. 2011. North Dakota State University. http://www.sunflowernsa.com/ uploads/research/1173/zollinger_ppt_weed.control_12.pdf