United Oilseeds is encouraging farmers to consider sunflowers as a profitable addition to their rotations, following the successful launch of the UK’s first-ever sunflower marketing pool last year.
The company claims interest is growing in the crop’s potential to provide strong market returns, environmental benefits, and resilience in a changing climate.
United Oilseeds sunflower project lead and trading manager Nick Hobson says it was a good first year for the sunflower marketing pool but not without challenges: “Year one wasn’t without some challenges, but that was to be expected and should be with anything new. Some of the growers in the pool did better than expected achieving well over 2 t/ha. and some didn’t fare quite as well. Even those who didn’t do so well are looking to try again this year, seeing the benefits of this sunshine crop.”
One of those challenges was the moisture. Sunflowers need to be dried down to 15% moisture which when harvesting relatively late can be a challenge. “As with any crop there are a range of pests that are partial to sunflowers, including slugs, pigeons and hares, but our growers in the main overcame these hurdles,” he adds.
Managing those could be worth the effort as a standout success of the new sunflower pool was the final price. “We expected around £400/tonne, but we exceeded that figure by some way, proving the huge potential of the UK’s only sunflower marketing pool for the future,” he notes.
One grower in the pool is Vanessa Tagg of I M Tagg, Lincolnshire, she adds: “It would appear a good break crop to grow aside from the late harvest, but we are planning on adapting this year by sowing earlier. They are a low input crop with only pre-emergence herbicide, a little nutrition and pre-harvest desiccation.
“We were pleasantly surprised at the amount of people that stopped, walked in and admired the sunflowers and it was a real pleasure talking to the public about our new crop. Overall, we found growing sunflowers a really positive experience and the pictures and videos were lovely to share on our social media.”
With the UK currently reliant on sunflower oil imports, domestic production offers a valuable opportunity to meet rising demand while diversifying farm income through multiple revenue streams, including oil production, birdseed, and edible seed markets.
Beyond economic advantages, sunflowers bring agronomic and environmental benefits that make them an attractive break crop. Their deep-rooting system improves soil health, while their resilience to drought and low input requirements makes them a practical option for farmers looking to future-proof their operations. As a pollinator-friendly crop, sunflowers also support biodiversity and align with sustainable farming incentives, including the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. With growing industry momentum and dedicated marketing support from United Oilseeds, sunflowers could play a key role in strengthening UK arable farming.
United Oilseeds’ claim its sunflower marketing pool offers farmers a hassle-free way to market their crop with default free produce of area contracts. Crops are moved at the buyer’s call from the end of harvest, with the option for immediate movement where storage agreements exist.
To support UK growers, the pool includes a choice of two seed varieties specifically trialed for UK conditions, ES Bella from Grainseed and LG50268 from Limagrain, both providing proven performance.
For any growers looking to find out more please visit: https://www.unitedoilseeds.co.uk/buy-your-seed/sunflowers where you’ll also find the latest growing guide.
