Exploring the Crops of the Northern Region-Sunflowers

As a continuation of the blog series, Exploring the Crops of the Northern Region, this blog will explore sunflowers. These pretty plants are grown in force across the Northern region. There are two major types of sunflowers grown across the US, oilseed and confectionary.  This blog will take a look at the two types and what they are used for.

But first, let’s consider how and where sunflowers are grown. Sunflowers are typically planted in late spring and are ready for harvest in fall. It is easy to tell when sunflowers are harvest ready because their heads will dry out and droop towards the ground. Fields of sunflowers like this are a common sight driving through the northern region in the fall. This is because roughly 75% of the sunflowers raised in the United States are grown in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. But this percentage is not split evenly between the oilseed and confectionery varieties. In reality, a vast majority of the crop grown here consists of oil type varieties.  

These oilseed varieties end up growing the seeds primarily used to make sunflower oil for frying. These small black seeds are anywhere from 40 to 50 percent oil. Outside of use for cooking oil, some of these black-seeded oil types go into the hulling market for kernel production and use in birdseed. From here the sunflower meal produced by this process is used as an ingredient in animal feed.

While not as commonly grown in the northern region, confectionery sunflowers still make up an important part of the sunflower market. Confectionery sunflowers are more easily recognizable by the seed than their oil counterparts. These are the large black and white striped sunflower seeds you see in the grocery store. The seeds are commonly eaten as snacks after being roasted or used in cooking and baking.

All in all, sunflowers are an important crop for the northern region and offers many benefits in creating oil, food, and feed products.

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