Production

The production of sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) for cooking oil, confectionary (for example, food) and birdseed has increased throughout the United States. Sunflowers are primarily grown in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Texas. North Dakota produces about 5 percent of the U.S. sunflower crop, and the United States produces 8 percent of worldwide production.  October 2005 . . . Sunflowers

Marketing

• National Sunflower Association - This nonprofit commodity organization for sunflower growers conducts promotion activities, supports production research and disseminates production and marketing information.   
• Oilseeds Yearbook, Economic Research Service, USDA, 2007 - Examines supply, use, prices and trade for oil crops, including supply and demand prospects in major importing and exporting countries.
• Sunflower Marketing in the High Plains, Kansas State University Research and Extension, 1997 - This publication addresses basic issues related to sunflower marketing in the High Plains, including Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska. Information is presented about deliverable sunflower grade and quality specifications and the types of sunflower marketing alternatives available to central Great Plains producers. Sunflower market information sources and the development of sunflower marketing plans are also discussed.

Processing/Manufacturing

• Drying and Storing Sunflowers, Kansas State University, 1987.
• Sumseeds - This South Dakota-based company is taking seeds grown in North Dakota and Kansas and adding caffeine, taurine, lysine and ginseng to them.

Production

• Confectionary Sunflower Cost-return Budget, Kansas State University Research and Extension, 2007.
• High Plains Sunflower Production Handbook, Kansas State University Research and Extension, 1999 - Agronomic practices, disease control and management, pest identification, harvesting and marketing of sunflower crops.
• Oil-type Sunflower Cost-return Budget, Kansas State University Research and Extension, 2007.
• Sunflower, Alberta Agriculture and Food, Canada, 2007.
• Sunflower, Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute, Columbia, Missouri.
• Sunflower, Interactive European Network for Industrial Crops and their Applications, 2003.
• Sunflower, The National Non-Food Crops Centre, Heslington, York, U.K.
• Sunflower: A Native Oilseed with Growing Markets, Jefferson Institute, revised 2002.
• Sunflower Production, Chapter 10: Alternative Crops, Ohio Agronomy Guide, 14th Edition, Ohio State University Extension, 2005.
• Sunflowers, Floridata, updated 2004.
• Sunflowers--Growing sunshine, Colorado State University Extension, updated 2007.

Links checked January 2008.