Manitoba Sunflower Fields Turning Yellow

Jul 28, 2020

It won't be long before Manitoba's sunflower fields start to turn yellow.

Ben Friesen, with Scoular Canada, says the crop is looking good so far, adding that a lot of the flowers are starting to open.

"The heat was really good because they had ample moisture down there. The crop is tall, it's green, it's lush, it's looking really good right now," he said.

Friesen notes most of the sunflower crop has caught up after a slow start to the season. He mentions that some of the crop is into the R5.1 to R5.5 stage right now, with a lot of the crop starting to bud (R3-R4).

According to Friesen, there have been no major disease issues in the areas they've looked at.

Lygus bugs have been showing up, as have grasshoppers. Diamondback moths are also present. Friesen expects that farmers will need to apply at least one insecticide application to ensure top quality sunflowers.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.