Colorado’s status as a top-five sunflower producer in the United States has ended, and experts wonder whether the crop that once covered as many as 300,000 acres will ever make a full comeback.
Colorado’s total sunflower production was 55.2 million pounds in 2012 — down about 55 percent from 2011, according to official 2013 Colorado Agriculture Statistics.
The 2012 drought took a toll on a number of crops last year. Colorado’s wheat, hay and corn production all dropped. But no crop saw a decrease as did sunflowers.
Colorado sunflowers are popular in Spain, where people eat the seeds one at a time, and rely on Colorado farmers to produce the larger seeds they enjoy, according to Colorado State University Extension agronomist Ron Meyer.
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