Perennial Grains for Water Quality and Conservation

Dec 01, 2023

Food production is dependent on the availability of clean water. Long-rooted perennial grains can absorb excess fertilizer that would otherwise runoff fields to pollute waterways or infiltrate into community water sources. Perennial grain crops can also more effectively utilize water stored in soils to reduce agricultural water use, which is of particular interest in arid environments where water is scarce.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), nitrate, which stems from fertilizer use, is the most prevalent chemical pollutant in groundwater aquifers around the globe. In the US specifically, agriculture is the primary source of pollution impacting the nation’s rivers and streams.

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Video: How American Farmers Harvest 1.15 Billion Pounds of Sunflowers

Across the open plains of North Dakota and South Dakota, sunflower fields turn the American landscape into a sea of gold. In this farming documentary, we go inside modern sunflower farming to see how farmers plant, grow, harvest, clean, dry, process, and transform sunflower seeds into valuable products used every day.

In 2024, American farmers harvested about 1.15 billion pounds of sunflowers. This video follows the full journey from warm spring planting to combine harvesting, seed cleaning, storage, oil extraction, refining, roasting, packaging, and animal feed production.

You will see how sunflower seeds are processed into cooking oil, roasted snacks, bakery ingredients, birdseed, livestock feed, and useful byproducts. From golden fields to modern processing plants, this is the story of how a beautiful flower becomes one of America’s important oilseed crops.

Watch until the end to discover how sunflower farming connects farmers, machines, factories, food production, and sustainable agriculture.