Sunflowers encountered fewer pests in Kansas

Sunflowers have seen fewer pest problems the last five years, according to Jeff Whitworth, Kansas State University department of entomology.

The sunflower head moth has been the No. 1 insect pest in sunflowers for the past 20 years, he reported in results published by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. For the past five to six years, the head moth has not been as problematic, but infestations have been common, he said.

In most cases, the head moth damage has not been severe enough to exceed the treatment threshold. Sampling should continue to monitor for the presence of head moths throughout the vulnerable period of sunflower development, according to the report.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kansas harvested 9,800 acres for oil and non-oil products and farmers raised 1,005 pounds per acre and produced 9.85 million pounds.

Diseases of note in 2024 included Rhizopus head rot, red rust and white mold, according to Rodrigo Onofre, Kansas State University department of plant pathology.

The 2024 Manhattan sunflower trial was afflicted by extensive lodging and stalk damage caused by periodically heavy rains and high winds during the growing season. Please keep the extenuating weather circumstances in mind when viewing the relative performance results.

Approximately 63% of the state had below-normal precipitation for the year. Only three months had above normal average precipitation: January, June and November. Of the nine months with below-normal precipitation, October had the lowest percentage of normal (39%). When combined with September, the two-month period was the 10th driest September and October on record.

Results are available online at www.hpj.com.