The Market: The UK Sunflower crop currently occupies around 300ha in total, yet the UK crushing and oils industries use around 100,000 tonnes of sunflowers or the equivalent in derived products - There is a clear potential opportunity here for UK growers.
Potential: New varieties coming through are making sunflower a viable crop for the UK. Already a number of growers have proved that the crop can be grown, and grown profitably in the UK. A number of benefits have emerged:
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Competes favourably with autumn and spring sown break crops
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Produces a high quality oil seed with strong market demand
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Spring sown and requires low inputs
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No additional equipment required
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Harvest allows entry into winter wheat
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