Sunflowers a good seeding option this spring

With the delay in seeding this spring, farmers may want to consider switching corn acres over to sunflowers.

Jody Locke is Senior Originator with Scoular.

"Sunflowers have a shorter growing season. They're a good option for farmers who are, at this point, looking to switch anything over just because of the amount of water that we have. Sunflowers because they have a shorter growing season, they're a good option. It's a 90-day to 100-day growing season as compared to 120 for corn. It's significantly shorter for that purpose. It's a good crop to replace if you're looking for something to change just because of the timing with the moisture that we have already."

Locke notes sunflowers are normally in the ground by May long weekend, but adds they can be planted as late as the beginning of June and still get a good crop.

She commented on sunflower pricing.

"If you compare it to two, three, four years ago, sunflowers are quite high right now as most commodities are. The return you're getting on your sunflowers right now is very good. I would say it's competitive to any other crop out there right now."

Locke encourages farmers to contact Scoular if they are considering sunflowers this spring.

"Scoular has been buying grain from farmers for over 30 years. We offer competitive pricing...Scoular will work with growers to make sure that we can market your sunflowers and that we can take all of the sunflowers that you grow regardless of how they grade and do something with them and give you a fair price for them."

New crop sunflower contracts are now available.