[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-292743-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-292743-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","sunflowers-improve-soil","Sunflowers improve soil","","Sunflower cover crops are presented as a late-planted option on Ontario’s West Coast, typically used in mixtures with oats, legumes, vetch, flax, and brassicas or radish. The article explains how deep taproots and fibrous roots can reduce compaction, support pollinators, and help retain phosphorus over winter. It also weighs practical considerations such as mowing or burndown termination timing, potential nematode hosting, seed cost, and risks like cover crops becoming too large.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/sunflowers-improve-soil/292743/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/sunflowers-improve-soil/292743.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Cipher","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-11","2026-09-17",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why are sunflowers used in cover crop mixes rather than as a standalone crop?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"They’re typically blended into a cover crop mixture with multiple plant species to achieve broader soil and agronomic benefits. The mix can include several species depending on the grower’s goals and timing.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How do sunflower cover crops help with soil quality and compaction?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Sunflowers can send deep taproots that alleviate soil compaction. They also leave residue that helps warm the soil in spring, supporting early growth.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What concerns and management steps are mentioned for sunflower cover crops?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The article notes trade-offs such as the possibility of hosting nematodes and the need to terminate or manage the cover crop to prevent it from becoming too large and aggressive. It also emphasizes using proper winter survival and spring termination to control erosion and phosphorus loss.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},292743,1791391710,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & 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cropmixture that may contain six different plants  \n# EXTENDED SEASON\n\n\"We want to harvest  \nBy Frances Anderson  \nsunlight,and the way  \nto do that is to keep  \nof flowering.Chemical control is easy andmost people want to control the volunteerwheat anyways,\"said Zehetner.\"Another op-tion is mowing.”  \nA drive along Ontario's West Coast'thisfall has a lot of people turning heads to take asecond look at the sunflowers.These late-planted beauties are not a stand-alone crop.They're a cover crop,in a mix that may in-clude a half dozen other species.  \nsomething growing.”  \nDeveloping weed resistance to sprayingshouldn’t be an issue,he said,because growerscan use multiple modes of action in burndown.  \nStefan Zehetner,who grows,blends andsells cover crop seed,says he uses sunflowersin almost all his mixes-unless the seed willbe planted very early,and the grower plans towait for the frost to terminate it.  \nZehetner's main cover mix this year includ-ed oats,Austrian winter peas,faba beans,chickling vetch,sunflowers,a bit of flax and amixture of brassicas or sometimes just daikonradish.The cost ranged from $18 to $21 acre,  \n“Sunflowers will set seed after a few weeks  \n20>corn+soy+wheat HANDBOOK NOVEMBER 2018  \nA mix of cover crops improves soil quality,alleviates compaction and holds phosphorus over the winter.  \nThe sunflowers feed pollinators andmake people smile  \nAfter burndown  \nHowever,he adds,he hasn't seen anyresearch to confirm this works.  \n\"Straight oats are cheaper,\"saysZehetner,but “they don’t offer the of-fer the same benefits in my opinion.Itonly adds another cool season grass.We already have wheat in the rotation.What we are really missing is cool sea-son broadleaves/legumes and Brassicasin most of southwestern Ontario'sstandard rotation.”  \nTom Hayter and his sons,Justin andAdam,have always planted covercrops after wheat at Hayter's TurkeyFarm near Dashwood.  \nacre,depending on the grower's vol-ume and delivery needs.  \n\"Sunflowers have a great taproot aswell as a very fibrous root system.They leave the ground very mellow,especially in my seed crop fields.Theyare also great at extracting zinc fromthe soil,and the residue that remainsin the spring is black,which helpswarm up the soil in the spring,”Zehetner said.  \n\"Faba beans and Phacelia residue isalso black in spring so I have used thethree together as a cover crop beforein hopes of warming up soil faster.\"  \n\"We want to harvest sunlight,andthe way to do that is to keep some-thing growing,”Tom said.\"We used toplant oat and peas,but in the last fiveor six years,we have gotten into grow-ing more complex cover crops.Ouraim is to have something growing allyear ‘round.We haven't quite figuredout how to do that yet.”  \nRoss Wilson,who is an agrologistworking for the Ausable BayfieldConservation Authority says thechoice of cover crop depends on whatyou want your cover crop to do.Forexample,if you want to improve soil  \ncondition,a fibrous root,like buck-wheat is a good choice,while sunflow-ers and oilseed radish will send downdeep taproots to alleviate soil compac-tion.To reduce soil erosion,you needa cover crop that will overwinter-anda plan to terminate it in the spring.  \nHayter said he's a boater,so he iswell aware of the problem of phospho-rus leaching in the Great Lakes.  \n\"They find that 80 to 90 per cent ofour phosphorus leaches out duringthe winter,from the time we harvestin the fall,to when we plant in thespring.So,if we can have somethingalive in the field over the winter,it willhang onto the phosphorus.”  \nALPINE G241-S⑧is anew starter fertilizer formulationfor today's crop needs  \n# A new\n\ngeneration  \n▶Contains K-Tech°potassium technology-Higher nutrient uptakeSoil health benefits▶Sulphu forearly plant uptakeProven ALPINE reliability  \n# starter for\n\nOf course,there are pros and consfor every species.Sunflowers arethought to be a host for nematodes,said Hayter.His pu","cbCaifTPtpmnTiWb","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifTPtpmnTiWb","pdf",769063,"English","# Extended Season\n## Cover crops in mixed rotations\n## Weed resistance, termination, and management\n## Soil benefits: compaction, zinc, and phosphorus\n## Costs, practicality, and farm experience","[{\"question\":\"Why are sunflowers used in cover crop mixes rather than as a standalone crop?\",\"answer\":\"They’re typically blended into a cover crop mixture with multiple plant species to achieve broader soil and agronomic benefits. The mix can include several species depending on the grower’s goals and timing.\"},{\"question\":\"How do sunflower cover crops help with soil quality and compaction?\",\"answer\":\"Sunflowers can send deep taproots that alleviate soil compaction. They also leave residue that helps warm the soil in spring, supporting early growth.\"},{\"question\":\"What concerns and management steps are mentioned for sunflower cover crops?\",\"answer\":\"The article notes trade-offs such as the possibility of hosting nematodes and the need to terminate or manage the cover crop to prevent it from becoming too large and aggressive. It also emphasizes using proper winter survival and spring termination to control erosion and phosphorus loss.\"}]","Sunflowers improve soil | PDF",1789654809]