CROPS, ENSILAGE

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a

Sunflowers as Ensilage

A digest of bulletins issued by the University of Saskatchewan, College of Agriculture, and the
Dominion Department of Agriculture.

For further information on this subject write to your nearest Agricultural College or
Experimental Station. A list of these is given in Farm News Sheet No. 46.

ISSUED BY

EATON’S FARM NEWS SERVICE
WINNIPEG, CANADA

_ Many kinds of plants have been experimented with in order to determine their value
for silage purposes, nutritive value, palatability, etc. The purpose of this bulletin is to
discuss the value of sunflowers for silage and to mention briefly, methods of growing
and handling the crop.

Sunflowers grow well and reach maturity in any soil and climate where wheat will
grow and ripen. Corn, on the other hand, only reaches maturity in localities having a
fairly long frost-free period, and where the nights do not get very cool in the ripening
period. For this reason, corn can only be grown for silage, with profit, in the southern
portions of Western Canada, whereas sunflowers will mature in all of our farming
regions.

FEEDING VALUE OF SUNFLOWERS

. Feeding tests over a period of five years at the University of Saskatchewan showed
sunflower silage to be equal in value to corn or oat silage. When sunflower silage was
fed to milk cows, they produced as much milk of as good quality as when corn or oat
silage was used. The experience of a great number of farmers has justified the con-
clusion that sunflower silage is readily eaten by dairy cows, beef cattle and most other
kinds of livestock, with the possible exception of horses. Also, the results of feeding
sunflower silage of good quality compare very favorably with that of feeding corn silage.

Sunflowers can be successfully grown on many different kinds of soil. They will
thrive on any soil that will produce corn or wheat. The best yields are usually obtained
on rich clay loams having plenty of humus.

EFFECT OF SUNFLOWERS ON FOLLOWING CROPS

There is some evidence to show that sunflowers take more plant food and moisture
from the soil than corn does. For this reason they are not likely to be as good a sub-
stitute for fallow as corn. The greater yield of sunflowers, however, as compared with
the yield of corn for silage will tend to offset any loss in the following crops. Where 10
tons of corn per acre is a fair average yield, it will be found that sunflowers will yield
-15 to 20 tons per acre. In view of the fact that they are grown almost exclusively for
silage, the acreage is never very large, so that this objection is not of a serious nature.
‘Yields of grain after sunflowers have often been better than one would expect. This is
probably accounted for by the fact that sunflowers are grown in rows and cultivated.

VARIETIES AND YIELD

The. siinatass variety of the sunflower grown in North America for silage purposes is
the Mammoth Russian. This variety makes vigorous growth and is single stemmed, with

few branches but large leaves. The University of Saskatchewan reports that, of a half
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