Near the beautiful southern Minnesota town of Austin, three farmers are going against the grain with an unlikely crop: sunflowers. While most Midwestern farmers stick to corn and soybeans, backed by reliable federal subsidies and a marketing and transportation infrastructure centered around such commodities, these pioneers saw an opportunity where others saw risk. Their story isn’t just about growing a plant known for its pretty yellow flower – it’s about building community, protecting soil health, and reimagining what modern crop farming can be.
The journey began in spring 2024 when Tom Cotter, a fourth-generation farmer who had been successfully growing sunflowers for two years, saw an opportunity to expand. He had started out growing 130 acres of the crop and liked how it fit into his diverse rotation of corn, soybeans, and other crops. His early success with sunflowers had caught the attention of Seven Sundays, a growing cereal company looking for local suppliers of organic sunflower seeds for its granola. Recognizing the potential for a larger impact, Cotter reached out to fellow members of the Land Stewardship Project’s Soil Health Hub, including Scott Lightly and Tom Finnegan. Together, they formed a partnership based on a shared interest in crop diversity and soil health.
To put things in context as to how unusual it was for these southern Minnesota farmers to grow sunflowers, consider this: 71,000 acres of the crop are expected to be planted in Minnesota in 2025. In comparison, 8.2 million and 7.4 million acres of corn and soybeans, respectively, were planted in Minnesota in 2024. The Red River Valley, which encompasses parts of northwestern Minnesota as well as North Dakota, is much better known for sunflower production than the area around Austin.
But the farmers were willing to take a chance on a new crop. As Finnegan, who is passionate about building soil health on his crop and livestock farm, explains, “Crop rotation diversity was one of my goals.” Lightly, who had previously grown only corn and soybeans, was hesitant about stepping out of his cropping routine.
However, when the opportunity to grow sunflowers came with a guaranteed market, he saw it as the perfect chance to diversify. “I didn’t have a good place to market anything other than corn and soybeans,” he recalls. “Then along comes this sunflower contract, and I thought, ‘That’s what I’ve been waiting for.’ ”
In 2024, the farmers raised a total of 290 acres of sunflowers and pooled them together into one Seven Sundays contract. The three farmers were all familiar with the importance of crop diversity but were at different stages of implementation. While Lightly had previously grown corn and soybeans exclusively, Cotter and Finnegan had experience with diverse crops such as oats, wheat, hay, and cover crops in their production rotations. To keep his risk low, Lightly grew around two dozen acres of sunflowers that first year.
It wasn’t just a guaranteed market that attracted Lightly to growing something different. “Sunflowers are great for soil health,” he says. “Their taproots dig deep and loosen up the soil, which makes a noticeable difference. After we harvested, the soil was much looser than it had been in years.”
Despite the benefits, growing sunflowers presents challenges. Federal crop insurance coverage is not available for non-traditional crops like sunflowers until they have been grown for at least two years, and even then, it’s a complicated and costly process. “It’s expensive,” says Lightly of insuring sunflowers. “Sometimes double or triple the cost of corn insurance per acre.”
Nevertheless, the farmers took the risk and dedicated part of their acres to sunflowers. As Finnegan admits, “We were up for a challenge.”
The early stages of planting were not without their hurdles, and Lightly played a crucial role in helping with the equipment setup. “I had zero challenges because I turned it all over to Scott,” recalls Finnegan. “He did all the heavy lifting. He even came to my house on a Sunday to help me set up the planter. Sunflowers are light and fluffy, unlike corn, which is dense. Each seed has different characteristics, so Scott was instrumental in helping us figure it out.”
Lightly recalls his own learning process. “I spent a lot of time researching online, watching videos, reading from North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and university extensions,” he says. “I even called my planter guy and asked if I could plant sunflowers with my corn planter. He said, ‘Nobody’s ever asked me that before.’ ”
Despite the challenges, the teamwork paid off. Lightly helped Finnegan calibrate his equipment, and Cotter’s equipment was also adjusted to meet the needs of sunflower planting.
When it came time to harvest, another challenge emerged: specialized equipment was needed. While there is the option to purchase commercial sunflower harvesting heads for combines, these farmers took a creative, lower-cost approach. They built their own adapter kit for the corn harvester to work with the sunflowers. “It worked really, really well,” Lightly says, marveling at the success of the homemade adapter.
The commercial version of the adapter would have cost about $2,100 per row. Instead, Lightly’s version, built with the help of a machinist friend, came to just $240 in material costs. “I drew up the plans, and we worked well together. It was a long weekend” Lightly says.
Ultimately, the sunflower project was about more than just diversifying crops; it became a way to connect with the land, the community, and consumers in unexpected ways. The sunflower fields became a local attraction, with neighbors stopping to admire the vibrant blooms.
“It was absolutely beautiful,” Finnegan recalls. “So many people stopped and asked for permission to take pictures.” Dawn, Scott’s wife, had a surprising moment of connection when she saw her cousin eating cereal during a camping trip.
“I asked my cousin, ‘What are you eating?’ She turned the bag around, and it was the Seven Sundays cereal. Now she says, ‘I think of you every time I eat my cereal,’ recalls Dawn. “I didn’t realize how much our work was connected to people’s everyday lives until that moment.”
The connection with Seven Sundays brought the farmers closer to their consumers. Through a community event where the Seven Sundays truck made an appearance, the farmers met the people who would eventually eat the crop they had grown.
In the end, the sunflower project was a success, both in terms of harvest and community impact. In 2025, Cotter, Lightly, and Finnegan plan in growing the crop again for a Seven Sundays contract. The farmers not only are growing a crop that is an alternative to the typical Corn Belt rotation, but that have also strengthened their ties to the land and the people around them. As Lightly says, “It’s not just about the harvest. It’s about the connections, the community, and the story we’re telling.”
Their story is one of resilience, collaboration, and a bold step toward sustainability.
Jasmine Curtis is serving a soil health internship with the Land Stewardship Project. During this internship, she is, among other things, collecting and analyzing survey data to support research on sustainable agriculture. In May, Curtis will graduate from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a bachelor of science in environmental science, conservation, and resource management.