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Research shows less nitrogen needed for sunflowers

New research on the effectiveness of fertilizer on sunflowers suggests less nutrients are needed to maximize plant response.

North Dakota State University Extension soil specialist Dave Franzen says the old recommendation for growers was 50 pounds of nitrogen to support every 1,000 pounds of sunflowers.

“The response is (actually) much shallower than that; and it’s a curve, not a line.  The first pounds of nitrogen that you apply give you the biggest bang for the buck, and then each increment of nitrogen you apply after that you get less and less and less.”

Franzen tells Brownfield his study also validated the belief that increased nitrogen rates typically reduces oil content in sunflowers.

Another aspect of the research involved an economic analysis based on yield response, the cost of nitrogen and the money earned from the crop.

“We also took into account the decreased premium they would get as oil decreased to a certain level and the dockage; anything under 40 percent.  All of that is worked into the recommendations.”

Franzen says the new recommendations will be published soon, and are broken down by region to be as site-specific as possible.