Grainseed are offering growers the opportunity to grow sunflowers for grain this spring.
Es Bella is their sunflower variety which is the best-selling variety in the UK and is now sold by United Oilseeds who introduced the first UK grain pool for sunflowers last year. Neil Groom, general manager, says that there has been significant interest in grain sunflowers. “Bella is an early maturing variety and is the best performing variety in trials.”
“Little trials work had been done in the UK until 2023. With climate change and increasing temperatures, the geographic area has already expanded for sunflowers in the UK. Sunflowers can be successfully produced south of a line from the Wash to the Bristol Channel but now more favourable areas to the North and west can be considered. I can see sunflowers really flourishing in the UK within 5 years, and early adopters can try out this great alternative spring crop in2025,” he says.
Neil Groom adds that “Bella is early maturing, high yielding sunflower variety performing consistently well in trials and commercially in England. It is an early variety with a high oil content of 48-50%. Bella has good standing ability, to reduce neck snapping, high dry matter yield and excellent disease resistance and has been bred for the UK conditions. There is an upward trend in demand and sunflowers provide a great break crop as well as brightening up the agricultural landscape.”
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