Sunflower

Maximise your yield & cut your operating costs with Sky Terra

Sunflowers are a crop where timing, coverage, and head health are everything and that’s exactly where Sky Terra comes in. We know how quickly sunflowers can turn once they hit reproductive stages, and how important it is to stay ahead of pests, disease, and nutrition before they impact seed set.

Our drones deliver even, consistent coverage across tall, dense sunflower stands without leaning plants over, compacting rows, or waiting for paddocks to dry. We handle insect work, fungicides, foliar nutrition, and late season passes with accuracy and repeatability.

We also run multispectral monitoring to spot early stress, patchy growth, moisture issues, nutrient problems, or Heliothis pressure so you can act before it costs yield.

It’s a clean, low-impact way to protect head development, keep your timing sharp, and help your sunflower crop finish strong.

Book Your Application or Season Package

Ready to book your sunflower spraying? Our drones get across the crop without flattening rows or waiting for paddocks to dry, keeping you ahead of pests, disease pressure, and late-season nutrition needs.

Enquire

Field Prep to Harvest

Sunflower Growth Stages & Spray Passes (Simple Guide)

(Approx. 3–6 spray applications per season depending on pests, nutrition, and disease pressure)

Field Preparation
– Soil worked, moisture balanced, weeds controlled.
– Knockdown herbicides applied here (Pass 1).
Planting
– Seed planted into warm, moist soil for strong establishment.
– Pre-emergent herbicide sometimes applied (Pass 2 – optional).
Emergence & Early Vegetative Growth
– Seedlings develop quickly; early leaf stages form.
– Insect control if pressure is present (Pass 3 – optional).
– Early foliar nutrition if required.
Vegetative Growth (Rapid Canopy Development)
– Plants stretch upward; stalk strengthens.
– Nutrition/fertiliser passes as needed.
– Early fungicide if disease risk is high (Pass 4 – optional).
Bud Formation (R1–R3 Stages)
– The head forms and becomes visible above the canopy.
– Insect sprays targeting Heliothis/caterpillars if needed (Pass 5).
Flowering (R5 Stage)
– Sunflowers enter their most critical production stage.
– Main fungicide application to protect head health (Pass 6 – common).
– Additional insect work depending on pressure (Pass 7 – optional).
Seed Fill (R6–R8 Stages)
– Seeds fill and mature; crop needs protection from pests.
– Targeted insect control if pressure spikes (Pass 8 – optional).
– Late nutrition in some programs.
Ripening (Dry-Down)
– Back of heads turn yellow → brown; moisture drops.
– Desiccation used in some systems for harvest timing (Pass 9 – optional).
Harvest
– Heads dry down; combine harvesters remove seed.
– No spray passes here.

Typical Total Spray Count:

3–6 applications per season
(up to 7–9 in high-pressure seasons)