Well, I got them planted this morning. After subsoiling and bedding the field last week we got some more rain over the weekend, which settled the beds and charged them with good moisture for planting. Here my helper is loading the planter with two bags of seed. They are really small sunflower seed, running over 5000/lb., so a couple bags will plant nearly 30 acres.
This is how it looked out the front window of the JD 7810 carrying the 8-row JD planter. I plant everything in 38" rows, because that width works best for cotton and peanut rows. I try to keep it as simple as possible.
And out the back window as the planter puts down the seed.
Depth of seed placement is critical for all crops, sunflower included. I set the planter to put the seed 10 1/2" apart in the row, and about 1 1/4" deep, like this. The reason these are purple is that they are coated with fungicides to protect the seed from diseases that may be present that would attack the little germinating seed and seedling, and weaken it at best, or kill it at worst.
That little feller and all his 350,000 counterparts have a big job to do, now. They must germinate within the next 24 hours, and push their way through the soil above them and into the sunlight above, so that photosynthesis can begin. For a few days they are living off the energy stored within the seed itself. It's a delicate little organism that is about to be exposed to a world that is brutally harsh at times.
We'll watch as it germinates and emerges, then grows to maturity in the weeks ahead.
SRH
