Last year’s sunflower crop in the United States was a record breaking one. The average yield per acre reached a new high of 1,625 pounds, up 156 pounds from the previous year.  National Sunflower Association Executive Director John Sandbakken says being able to plant early helped.

He says there were a combination of factors that led to the record crop with good weather leading the way.

Sandbakken says the challenge going forward will be to top that record production.

For the third year in a row, South Dakota is the top sunflower producing state at 1.23 billion pounds. North Dakota came in second and there was also high production in both Nebraska and Kansas.