30 Years Ago
Saturday, March 1, 2025
filed under: Historical
$2.7 Billion: The Annual Impact of the U.S. Sunflower Industry — “What’s the annual impact of the U.S. sunflower industry? Nearly $2.7 billion, according to a just-concluded landmark study.
“The study, conducted by North Dakota State University agricultural economists Dean Bangsund and F. Larry Leistritz, used 1991-93 as its base period, with the annual impact determined by averaging the figures for those three years. Along with estimating the industry’s overall economic activity, the NDSU researchers also broke down that activity into four major industry segments: (1) crop production, (2) the sunflower oil industry, (3) confection sunflower and (4) the birdfood sector. Over the overall annual impact of $2.67 billion, $799 million was attributed to the crop production segment; $743 million to the sunflower oil industry; $702 million to the confection sector; and $423 million to the birdfood portion of the sunflower industry.
“ ‘These numbers represent the most in-depth and comprehensive analysis ever conducted of the U.S. sunflower industry’s economic importance,’ states Larry Kleingartner, executive director of the National Sunflower Association. ‘Though sunflower has often been referred to as a “minor” crop, that $2.7 billion figure underscores the fact that this industry is, in reality, a very notable player in U.S. agriculture.
“Kleingartner adds that had the study’s timing allowed for inclusion of the 1994 sunflower crop year, the economic impact figures would have been even larger due to the size of the 1994 crop and increased processing and distribution activity.
“NSA leaders are expected to emphasize these economic impact figures to Congress and USDA during the coming months as the 1995 farm bill is deliberated. ‘Given the intense scrutiny that federal agricultural budgets are receiving this year, each commodity is under more pressure than ever to justify itself and its receipt of any type of federal aid, be it in the form of loan programs, deficiency payments, export subsidies or other government involvement,’ Kleingartner notes. ‘We believe the conclusions of this study strongly underscore the contributions and importance of the sunflower industry to the economies of major producing states — and to the nation in general.’ ”
Double Cropping Pays Off for These Kansans / By Don Lilleboe — “The average sunflower producer could be excused for turning green with envy upon hearing the yield Steve Kramer needs to break even on his crop: less than 500 pounds per acre.
“There is, however, an extenuating circumstance not applicable to most of the nation’s sunflower growers: Kramer is talking about the yield off a double-cropped field.
“The Nemaha County, Kan., resident is one of a small — but apparently expanding — number of eastern Kansas/southeastern Nebraska farmers who are producing sunflower under a double-crop scheme following wheat. Some, like Kramer, grow full-season ’flowers as well. He reports that under both scenarios, the crop is helping him bust up problem weed cycles in his wheat, allows more-efficient use of land, machinery and labor — and funnels additional profit into the farm’s coffers.
“Brothers Steve and John Kramer own and operate J-Six Farms near Corning. Much of the Kramers’ time is focused on their large hog operation (including 2,400 sows); but they simultaneously grow wheat, soybeans, sorghum and now sunflower. In partnership with another individual, they also own and operate a pair of elevators — one at Seneca and the other at Fairview. A third Kramer brother, Troy, is a merchandiser for the elevators.
“The Kramers’ addition of sunflower to their cropping rotation evolved out of their elevator ownership. Several years ago, they hired a grain merchandiser who had come from the sunflower regions of western Kansas. He convinced the Kramer brothers and their partner that sunflower could be another profit center for their northeastern Kansas elevators; so the elevators began handling and marketing ’flowers for other producers in the area, selling into both the crushing and birdseed markets.
“The Kramers quickly saw the potential for sunflower in their own farm’s cropping rotation and grew their first 400 acres in 1991. Though it was a very dry year, those double-cropped ’flowers still averaged 700 pounds and, more importantly, netted the Kramers approximately $25 per acre. ‘In our area, $30 to $40 an acre is about what we’re going to average in profit on full-season crops,’ Steve indicates. ‘So that got our attention in a hurry.’
“In 1994 the Kramers planted 400 acres of full-season sunflower and another 250 acres of double-cropped ’flowers behind wheat. Their direct input costs for the double-cropped portion — delivered to the elevator — amounted to $47 per acre. ‘And that includes a burndown herbicide treatment which we probably would have had to do even if we hadn’t planted sunflower on those fields,’ Steve points out. With the double-cropped yields averaging 1,350 pounds per acre, their breakeven price was just 3.5 cents per pound when based on the $47 figure.”
Rye from the Sky / By Don Lilleboe — “Pete Newton knows he won’t increase yield or test weight by irrigating sunflower fields in September. But that didn’t stop this High Plains producer from turning on his center-pivot sprinklers last fall.
“Newton, who farms along both sides of the Colorado/Nebraska border between Wray, Colo., and Haigler, Neb., is among several producers in the area who intercede a rye cover crop in their sunflower fields in order to help minimize over-winter soil erosion. The rye is aerially applied in late summer/early fall, watered for rapid germination and emergence, left dormant over the winter, and then killed the next spring via a burndown herbicide treatment.
“[1994] was Newton’s first year experimenting with the rye cover crop concept. He’d seen neighbors successfully implement the practice, and he was anxious to add some additional vegetative cover on his sandy loam soils following the sunflower harvest. While he does leave the ’flower stalks standing for snow trap, Newton believed he need supplemental cover, too. . . .
“[It was mid-September when] the aerial applicator flew on 100 pounds of rye on each of 540 sunflower acres. Cost of the rye and its application came to about $15 an acre.
“Following the rye seeding, Newton applied about an inch of water to the fields, then waited until the sunflower was harvested and turned the sprinklers on one more time. The force of the water droplets was sufficient to lightly incorporate the rye into the soil and — coupled with a warm October — resulted in a very good stand and sufficient growth prior to heading into winter dormancy.”