Sunflowers provide growers with an excellent opportunity for profit potential, but there’s some budgeting that has to be done to ensure your bottom line.
The latest USDA stocks report showed a rather large carryout for sunflowers at more than a billion pounds. The National Sunflower Association says that surplus could weigh on prices this year, so keeping a good budget is important to keep track of all the inputs. Once you do that, you may notice just how profitable the crop can be.
If you’re thinking about growing, National Sunflower Association board member Karl Esping advises: “Sunflowers require fairly decent amounts of nitrogen, but it is a proven fact through many years of research that phosphorus in sunflower plants is not required unless you have an extremely low testing soil for phosphorus, then you could spread a little starter on it or spread a little manure.”
The seed cost for sunflowers is significantly less than other crops. Also, the flower make a great background for Fall photos, which can make them a nice accent to agritourism operations.