Attractive prices for oilseeds have sparked a late surge in sunflower plantings throughout the rain-blessed North West as growers seek out best-bet options to round off their summer sowing programs.
While sorghum will continue to be the mainstay summer crop in northern NSW, the year is shaping as an exceptional one for sunflowers.
An estimated 12,000 hectares of early sunflowers were planted in the sowing period from late August to the end of October, and substantial late plantings of sunflowers have gone in since the start of December.
Barring a continuation of the heatwave that has sapped soil moisture levels across the region this week, analysts say there is potential for significant acreages of late sunflowers to still be planted.
In a sign of the increased activity, sunflower seed supplies are starting to run short, particularly for the widely planted mono-unsaturated lines.
See the full story in this week's The Land.
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