Farming sunflowers near San Antonio: a good crop for dry times

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• published: 26 Aug 2013
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SAN ANTONIO -- I was headed to a story in Mexico when this blazing crop of light caught my eye.Turns out it was a huge field of beautiful, bright yellow sunflowers in full bloom just off U.S. Highway 90 near Castroville.And as I turned off the road to check it out, I noticed I wasn't the only one stopping to take a closer look.Karen Morris was using her iPad to shoot pictures of the fields full of 6-foot tall flowers. As I'm driving up I saw the yellow, she said. And inquiring minds want to know -- what's the yellow? And sunflowers! How glorious. It's beautiful! Sunflowers are the happiest flower in the world!But I couldn't stay long. And it turns out, the beautiful photo-op phase of these flowers wouldn't last too much longer. I caught them in full bloom in late May, but by early July, it's already harvest time.So I recently took my camera back to talk with farmer Alan Zinsmeyer.He acknowledged the sunflowers' beautiful blooms a few weeks ago drew a lot of spectators. They look real pretty. But if you take them home and put them in a vase they make a big mess, he laughs. They're not a rose.But sunflowers are looking more and more attractive to farmers like Zinsmayer, who are looking for reliable crops during dry spells.Zinsmeyer's family has been farming in this area near Castroville for more than 100 years. Ten years ago, when it was dry, he decided to try planting some sunflowers.With limited amount of rainfall, they seem to outyield corn and cotton and the normal crops so thats how we got started.This year he planted 500 acres -- that might otherwise have been corn or cotton -- in what's called confection sunflowers.Confection just means the kind of sunflower grown for direct consumption of the seeds. That's different than oil sunflowers, which produce seeds that are processed into oil or meal or birdseed.Zinsmeyer explains that the huge combine he uses during the harvest is the same basic machine he uses to harvest corn, except for the attachments that cut the plant and thresh the grain.What this machine will do, it will cut the head off (the plant) then it'll thresh it. Then it'll put just the seeds in the grain tank.Most sunflowers are actually grown in the upper midwest. The biggest sunflower-producing states are the Dakotas.But trade groups, like the National Sunflower Association, are working to increase the market for sunflowers as a snack food and to convince more farmers to try growing it.And with ongoing concerns about dry spells and droughts gripping much of Texas, you may see more of this cousin of the wild sunflower blooming in farm fields.Zinsmeyer grew up when sunflowers were only a bad thing for farmers. We had picked them when we were little kids. We picked the weeds and the weeds were all sunflowers. We weren't really too happy about it. But we were in a situation we started planting them when none of the other, you know it had been a long drought and none of the other crops were yielding enough. Our return on investment was close to zero. We started planting sunflowers, the inputs were low and we had a little money left when we finished so hah, that's how we started.Sometimes they have planted sunflowers as a dry-land crop, meaning they used no additional water for irrigation.This year, they did irrigate before they planted, but then some rain helped.And after the harvest is done, they can soon plant another crop of something in these fields. He says it may be corn. It may be sunflowers.Some years, yeah, if there's water left, we can plant a second crop. There's a limited amount of residue so we can till the ground once or twice and come back in with a second crop.But sunflowers have a big taproot that can suck up a lot of nutrients. And they don't usually plant sunflowers two years in a row, so if you see the big, yellow blooms, get your pictures quick. They're only in bloom for a few weeks at a time.But for people like Karen Morris, getting to drive by the fields and grab a few photos with her iPad, is a treat. I think it's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Italy in Texas! It does make me happy! Absolutely. It looks like the sun. Look at it. It's just glorious!

Farming sunflowers near San Antonio: a good crop for dry times

• Report rights infringement
• published: 26 Aug 2013
• views: 6581

SAN ANTONIO -- I was headed to a story in Mexico when this blazing crop of light caught my eye.Turns out it was a huge field of beautiful, bright yellow sunflowers in full bloom just off U.S. Highway 90 near Castroville.And as I turned off the road to check it out, I noticed I wasn't the only one stopping to take a closer look.Karen Morris was using her iPad to shoot pictures of the fields full of 6-foot tall flowers. As I'm driving up I saw the yellow, she said. And inquiring minds want to know -- what's the yellow? And sunflowers! How glorious. It's beautiful! Sunflowers are the happiest flower in the world!But I couldn't stay long. And it turns out, the beautiful photo-op phase of these flowers wouldn't last too much longer. I caught them in full bloom in late May, but by early July, it's already harvest time.So I recently took my camera back to talk with farmer Alan Zinsmeyer.He acknowledged the sunflowers' beautiful blooms a few weeks ago drew a lot of spectators. They look real pretty. But if you take them home and put them in a vase they make a big mess, he laughs. They're not a rose.But sunflowers are looking more and more attractive to farmers like Zinsmayer, who are looking for reliable crops during dry spells.Zinsmeyer's family has been farming in this area near Castroville for more than 100 years. Ten years ago, when it was dry, he decided to try planting some sunflowers.With limited amount of rainfall, they seem to outyield corn and cotton and the normal crops so thats how we got started.This year he planted 500 acres -- that might otherwise have been corn or cotton -- in what's called confection sunflowers.Confection just means the kind of sunflower grown for direct consumption of the seeds. That's different than oil sunflowers, which produce seeds that are processed into oil or meal or birdseed.Zinsmeyer explains that the huge combine he uses during the harvest is the same basic machine he uses to harvest corn, except for the attachments that cut the plant and thresh the grain.What this machine will do, it will cut the head off (the plant) then it'll thresh it. Then it'll put just the seeds in the grain tank.Most sunflowers are actually grown in the upper midwest. The biggest sunflower-producing states are the Dakotas.But trade groups, like the National Sunflower Association, are working to increase the market for sunflowers as a snack food and to convince more farmers to try growing it.And with ongoing concerns about dry spells and droughts gripping much of Texas, you may see more of this cousin of the wild sunflower blooming in farm fields.Zinsmeyer grew up when sunflowers were only a bad thing for farmers. We had picked them when we were little kids. We picked the weeds and the weeds were all sunflowers. We weren't really too happy about it. But we were in a situation we started planting them when none of the other, you know it had been a long drought and none of the other crops were yielding enough. Our return on investment was close to zero. We started planting sunflowers, the inputs were low and we had a little money left when we finished so hah, that's how we started.Sometimes they have planted sunflowers as a dry-land crop, meaning they used no additional water for irrigation.This year, they did irrigate before they planted, but then some rain helped.And after the harvest is done, they can soon plant another crop of something in these fields. He says it may be corn. It may be sunflowers.Some years, yeah, if there's water left, we can plant a second crop. There's a limited amount of residue so we can till the ground once or twice and come back in with a second crop.But sunflowers have a big taproot that can suck up a lot of nutrients. And they don't usually plant sunflowers two years in a row, so if you see the big, yellow blooms, get your pictures quick. They're only in bloom for a few weeks at a time.But for people like Karen Morris, getting to drive by the fields and grab a few photos with her iPad, is a treat. I think it's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Italy in Texas! It does make me happy! Absolutely. It looks like the sun. Look at it. It's just glorious!