Inspired by War….

In early 2022 Russia invaded and occupied parts of Ukraine, the repercussions of this terrible act have been felt throughout the world on many levels, and has had a major impact on Agriculture. Up until the war Ukraine and Russia have been responsible for 70 - 80% of the worlds Sunflower exports, to give an idea of scale Ukraine have grown approximately 13,000,000 tonnes a year which is the equivalent of 23% of all Agricultural holdings. The Russian Federation around grew approximately 11,000,000 tonnes. As a result of the War trade routes have been negatively impacted and the UK were set for a significant shortfall of Sunflower seed imports.

To have a successful crop of Sunflowers would be an exciting prospect for any UK farmer. It is a crop that not many farmers and agronomists have much knowledge on in this country or have had much experience with, therefore it is a rather risky crop to ‘experiment with’. At Manor Farm - we took the challenge and planted 25 acres and the crop was just spectacular! Flowering in early August the ‘smiling yellow faces’ appeared on BBC Breakfast News, BBC Points West and was talked about a lot in the local press. After a successful harvest and - we are now in a position to be finding the best markets for the product. Not only is Sunflower oil used for human consumption but the wild birds LOVE IT!

We have also this year planted a further crop so we will look forward to see if it will yield better this time!