The Best Price for Buying Plant Sunflower Seed
During the growing season, sunflower seed plant growers focus all their efforts on ensuring that their crops reach their full potential and give the highest possible yield and wholesaler.
Yields have grown all over the world over the past half century, setting record after record. 1 to 1.6 tons of seed per hectare (1427 to 892 pounds per hectare) in 1970, today high-yielding countries such as France and China report average yields of 2 to 2.2 tons per hectare (1784 to 1963 pounds per cubic meter). . (one).
This yield increase is mainly due to the development of new high yielding self-fertile hybrids and improved farming practices and machinery. Interestingly, wild or ancient sunflower species were self-incompatible. This means that plants depended on pollinators for fertilization and seed production.
Modern breeders have overcome this problem and have increased yields even without the right pollinators. However, even modern sunflower hybrids can be very favorable for pollination.
Scientific reports show that yields can increase up to 48.8% and oil percentage can increase up to 6.4% in bee-exposed hybrids (2). If farmers want to take advantage of these insects, they must use poisons that are safe for bees, spray them at night and notify the beekeeper of these actions.
Typically, the average sunflower seed yield for an experienced farmer in fertile soil ranges from 2.3-2.5 t/ha (2050-2230 lb/ha). These figures drop to 0.7–2.0 t/ha (1784–624 lb/m/L) when the crop is grown in dry, non-irrigated conditions with little rainfall.
With adequate irrigation or rain conditions and soil moisture, an experienced farmer can achieve a yield of 4.0 t/ha (3,569 lb/m/L).
In oilseed sunflower, in most cases, oil yields can range from 1 to 3 t/ha (892 to 22,677 lb/ha) if there are no limiting factors. Record yields as high as 5.7 t/ha (5000 lb m/ha) have been recorded in some areas (Toensmeier, 2016).
Most sunflower varieties complete their life cycle between 90 and 120 days after planting. Of course, this time can vary significantly depending on various factors (living and abiotic stress, diversity, etc.).
For this reason, the farmer must have another signal indicating the physiological maturity of the plants that can be used as a harvest signal. A change in the color of the nape from green to yellow and bracts to brown usually indicates the physiological maturity of the sunflower. 
This stage is called R-9 and occurs 30-45 days after flowering, in mid-autumn. Seed moisture at this stage is still high and is 35% (20-50%). From this point on, harvesting can begin, as no further increase in yield is expected.
On the contrary, the period between ripening and harvest should be as short as possible, as there is a risk of reduced yields due to disease, bird damage or wet weather.
After maturation, the plants should be dried, and the moisture content of the seeds should be reduced. To do this, some flower growers can take advantage of the first autumn frosts or use a desiccant.
These products should not be used before the physiological maturity of the crop, as they may reduce yield and oil content. It is important to note here that even with the use of a desiccant, the drying of the seed will be much slower than that of the whole plant.
In general, mechanized harvesting (combining) can begin when the moisture content is 18-20%. However, some farmers delay harvesting until the seed moisture drops to 9.5% to allow for safe and quick storage. However, such low humidity poses a risk of grain crushing (2). 
Farmers must also consider the quality requirements of the commercial sunflower seeds they grow. For example, sweet sunflowers typically require 10% moisture, less than 1% sclerotia and dark roast, and a test weight of 155g/0.5L (approximately 25 pounds per unit) in the contract (4).
How to harvest sunflowers and minimize losses
Sunflowers can be harvested by hand or by machine. Of course, the second option is the most common, especially for commercial products. To do this, farmers can use combination headers designed specifically for sunflowers, or conventional whole-crop headers used to thresh smaller grains such as wheat and soybeans (5).
A variety of cutting attachments are available, many of which act like thugs designed to pluck only the heads and remove as many stems as possible. A flat cutter mounted on a traditional straight blade can be used.
In order to minimize crop losses during mechanical harvesting, farmers should be aware of the factors that cause them and make adjustments accordingly.His three main causes of losses at harvest: Loss of product in front of the combine.
header loss as the product enters the device and
Loss of threshing and separation. Below are some common combine adjustments that can help farmers reduce the risk of losses during harvest. Harvester speeds are around 3-5 mph, and the sunflower seed moisture, number of plants, yield Adjust accordingly.
For example, if the seed is low in moisture, the controller should slow down to prevent stubble loss. Sunflower seeds are lighter than other crops, so it is necessary to reduce the wind speed to prevent the seeds from flying out of the combine.
The cavity should be fully open and the cylinder should rotate normally between 250-400 rpm. Finally, 1/2" to 5/8" top screens and 3/8" bottom screens are available.
Farmers also need to keep in mind that sunflower seeds are lighter in weight and larger in size compared to smaller seeds, which affects transportation costs. For reference, a typical test weight for sunflower oilseeds is 28-32 pounds per unit, and US quality standards are even lower.
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