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The business of agriculture requires savvy management for financial success and sunflowers provide their own unique set of challenges.
“If a grower is in business today, they’re already doing something right,” says Gary Schnitkey, a University of Illinois Agriculture and Consumer Economics Professor. And the news only gets better. Schnitkey and his research team have come up with a list of the key habits and on-farm practices of highly resilient and profitable farmers, based on a study funded by theIllinois Soybean Association and the Illinois Soybean Checkoff Program.
Adoption of these habits would be good for all farmers, including sunflower growers, says Ross Hakes, Nuseed’s Sales and Strategic Marketing Manager. “They’re solid principles and good habits of profitable farming,” he says. The most successful North American sunflower growers already incorporate these principles into their business practices, says Hakes; however, more growers could take advantage of these habits.
“There’s huge opportunity for sunflower growers who adopt these habits,” says Hakes. “Which means more money from their farming operations.”
Using data from the Illinois Farm Business Farm Management Association, Schnitkey’s study examined which on-farm practices led to healthier bottom lines for farmers, and the habits these farmers had in common. From that analysis of highly-resilient farmers, Schnitkey and his team devised the following seven habits.
7 Key Habits
Innovative Farmers
Resilient, profitable farmers are innovative and are always evaluating and adopting the latest technologies, says Schnitkey. “When we gave those farmers a list of all the latest technologies, they had at least evaluated most, and many were adopting them,” he says.
Sunflower growers can also take advantage of yield boosts by changing up planting dates. Farmers who plant sunflowers earlier and harvest earlier can produce higher yields, says Hakes. “Plant the crop in May instead of later in June—there’s a huge difference in what your return can be with yield and quality,” says Hakes.
Although sunflower growers are consistently adopting some technologies, others are being overlooked. For example, most growers are already using herbicide-tolerant traits for weed control on their farms, but those looking for increased profits would do well to evaluate new innovations in technology, such as digital ag, variable rate technologies and drones, says Hakes.
Improving agronomic practices through innovation also presents opportunities for sunflower growers. High on the list of sunflower yield limiters is plant stand establishment, says Hakes. Thus, minimizing skips and doubles and establishing consistent stands through innovations in planting equipment or seed treatment technologies will create more profitable crops, he says.
One important point to note, says Schnitkey, is although the profitable farmers in the study were evaluating and adopting the newest technologies, they weren’t at the “bleeding edge” of innovation. “These people weren’t winning yield contests or trying things that were way out there,” he says.
New Technology Evaluation
Highly profitable farmers are always evaluating new production technologies and practices, and will assess these technologies through on-farm trials. “If something new was coming out, they were evaluating it on their farms,” says Schnitkey.
Similarly, successful sunflower growers are also carrying out their own on-farm evaluations, says Hakes. For example, these farmers will plant two or three new hybrids on their farms to assess new traits or genetics.
High Returns are Necessary
Return on investment is an important evaluation criteria for farmers in the high profitability group, says Schnitkey. When assessing new production technologies or adopting new practices, resilient, profitable farmers would base decisions on returns, and not only yields. “It wasn’t yields. Usually these new technologies have higher yields, but they had to have a higher return,” he says.
Hakes couldn’t agree more. When assessing new technologies or practices, ROI should be foremost. “Every farmer ought to be looking at returns,” he says.
Cost Control is Paramount
An analysis of the farms in the study showed high-profit farms had lower costs, including items such as seed, herbicides, and fertilizers, than less profitable farms. “In this group, they were adopting the latest technologies but they weren’t doing that in terms of higher costs. They had lower costs at the same time they had higher yields—that’s just simply amazing,” says Schnitkey. High-profit farmers had budgets, and they lived within their budgets. These farmers continually evaluated expenditures, and there had to be returns on the dollars they were investing in their operations, he says.
There are many ways sunflower growers can control production and input costs on their farms, says Hakes. Calibrating equipment, such as planters and sprayers as well as applying the correct input amounts at the appropriate timing will help farmers curb costs, he says. Staying on top of innovations and best practices will also keep costs in check. “There are new fertilizer recommendations for sunflowers. Anywhere farmers can utilize crop inputs better on the land is a good thing,” says Hakes.
High Production Levels Maintained
The more profitable farms in the study typically had higher yields, says Schnitkey.
The growers of these successful farms were good production managers, says Schnitkey, and they maintained their yields at high levels. In addition, the farmers maximized their production inputs. “Part of being a good manager in this business for corn and soybeans is, and it would be the same for sunflowers, you have to get the most out of your production inputs,” he says.
Increasing their yields is an area Hakes says sunflower growers can really make improvements and find opportunities. However, optimizing yields may require a mindset change for some, he says. For example, sunflower crops often don’t get the same considerations farmers give other crops.“Some may not manage the sunflower crop to its highest potential, and that’s an area for improvement,” says Hakes. “If you look at the analyses in the North Dakota State University crop budgets, the sunflower crop is, year in and year out, on a per acre basis, one of the most profitable crops farmers can grow. The data is clear on that,” he says. “It’s just a matter of looking at the crop differently.”
Bringing in Expertise
When they needed it, the more profitable farmers in the group brought experts to their operations for help and advice. The expertise varied, said Schnitkey, from marketing to agronomic consultants.
The most profitable sunflower growers seek out advice and expertise, says Hakes. Whether it’s agronomic advice or market information, there are sunflower experts available, such as National Sunflower Association staff or Nuseed’s agronomists, ready and willing to help growers find answers. Educational seminars, such as Nuseed’s Sunflower University, also exist to help optimize growers’ profits, he says.
Non-Timing Price Opportunities Sought
Highly profitable farmers created additional revenue on their farms by seeking premiums for their crops, whether through higher yields or specialty crops, such as non-GMO soybeans. “Here, the alternative is not to grow commodity soybeans, but to grow soybeans that are non-GMO, or have some other characteristic that someone is willing to pay more money for, so there’s a higher return,” says Schnitkey.
Most successful growers look for ways to get top dollar for their crops and sunflowers offer some of the best premiums, says Hakes. By growing sunflowers, there are opportunities to catch an oil, confection or dehull premium, which can improve profitability, margins and returns. Understanding sunflower markets and the opportunities they offer will increase growers’ resiliency, he adds.
Reach for Resiliency
As Schnitkey says, if farmers are still in business in today’s economic climate, they’re doing something right. But how do farmers make their businesses more profitable?
Understanding the above list is a good start, says Schnitkey. After that, discipline and evaluation are critical, he says. “This is hard,” says Schnitkey. “We didn’t find a magic bullet here.” He suggests farmers spend time assessing each decision— right or wrong—that they make.
“These growers wouldn’t put down an input without some prospect of a return. And they’re going to try and measure if that input got that return. Discipline and really doing a good job of evaluation are key,” he says.
