Youngs grow sunflowers
By CYNTHIA AUKERMAN
News-Gazette reporter
Dan and Michelle Young are in their fifth year of growing sunflowers on their certified organic farm on Wasson Road east of Union City, Ohio. There are good agricultural and business reasons to grow sunflowers, but there's more than that behind the Youngs' decision to raise sunflowers.
Dan Young explains, "Sunflowers are just plain pretty and they are fun for us to grow."
The bright yellow blooms attract artists and sight-seers, and they have even provided the backdrop for a wedding.
One of the agricultural reasons to grow sunflowers is that they aren't a grass like corn and not a legume like soybeans, so they are good for crop rotation. Also, sunflowers need a whole lot less nitrogen than corn, 70 units compared to 200 units.
Sunflowers are a bigger crop out west in drier country, but with the cost of trucking and fuel increasing rapidly, more sunflowers are being grown closer to markets. Those markets are all over the United States, according to Young.
The Youngs' sunflower seeds are trucked to a facility in northern Ohio, where they are cleaned, graded and bagged for sale as seed. The price for seed sunflowers is good now, Young says, as is the "crush" market for sunflowers to be made into oil.
Another agricultural advantage of sunflowers is that they have a wide-open planting season, from April 1 to July 15. They are harvested toward the end of September into November by a standard combine with a special head.
Dan Young got interested in sunflowers through his agricultural studies. He likes to read about what other farmers are doing, and he likes to try new things. The goal is to spend the least amount of money on his agricultural "inputs" and to take advantage of special markets.
This year the Youngs tried a new variety of sunflower, which is shorter than the normal 4-6 foot high plants.
The type of seed the Youngs grow is for sunflowers to make oil. But there are several other types of sunflowers, including "confection" sunflowers used for direct human consumption. Sunflowers are valued as a "health food" because they are high in protein.
Because sunflowers are high in oil, they could be used to make biodiesel.
"They would make excellent chicken feed too," Young says. "but some people don't understand that."
With the huge sunflower fields out west, crop loss to birds can be a big problem. So far, birds have not been a big issue in the Youngs' fields, although flocks of birds occasionally sweep over the field. Dan says the effect of birds on his sunflower yields are similar to losses farmers experience from deer and wild turkeys.
The Youngs farm only about 200 acres, with about one-fourth of their operation devoted to sunflowers. Their farm has been certified organic since 1993. They produce food-grade quality corn, wheat, rye and speltz, a grain similar to wheat. People who are allergic to wheat can tolerate products made with speltz.
The Youngs practice double-cropping. In August and September, the fields with corn still standing are seeded by air with oats and turnips. Then when the corn is picked, the cattle are turned loose in the fields to dine on corn stalks and the newly-emerged oats and turnips.
If the weather stays dry, the sunflower harvest will begin soon. Like any other crop, the success of the sunflowers will depend on that weather.
"We take what Mother Nature gives us," Young concludes.
