Eye on Agriculture - Sunflower Harvest Underway

It took a little longer than expected but sunflower fields have finally dried down enough for far...  More »

It took a little longer than expected but sunflower fields have finally dried down enough for farmers to move back in and start their late fall harvest. Before Tuesday's rain harvesters were hard at it Monday knocking down flower fields north of Minot. (Justin Smith, Farms Near Minot) You know they're averaging out. It's going to be a good year. We had that rains that really help develop the heads and stuff so. Those rains, that Justin Smith is referring to, along a delayed freeze helped the row crops, like sunflowers, finish out and fill and put a bump on the bushels heading into the bin. (Justin Smith, Farms Near Minot) We'll probably have about three more days on sunflowers and then move into the Corn if it starts drying down. Many fields being harvested that weren't contracted out earlier in the season are heading straight into storage rather than to the elevator. The National Sunflower association says the recent downturn in price from the season high of 30 dollars to it's current mark 13.45 is the sole reason for farmers looking at on farm storage rather than immediate deliver to the elevator. At the start of the week only about 10 percent of the Sunflowers were harvested in the state, well behind the five year average of 34 percent. But behind so far doesn't mean a lackluster crop, just a little delay in wrapping up harvest for the year. (Justin Smith, Farms Near Minot) We knew they were drying down and we knew we'd be getting going pretty soon. Tuesday's rain may have shut down harvest for a few days but with warmer dry weather setting back in it won't be long before the combines are back chewing their way through the final fields of the season. North of Minot With Your Eye On Agriculture, Shaun Sipma KX News.  « Less