Picture: Mat Rodenhurst makes the most of the October sunshine while harvesting the Harper Adams sunflower crop
Harper Adams University College has recently harvested a crop of sunflowers which is believed to be the furthest north that the Keops variety has grown.
The sunflower variety was supplied by Grainseed Maize and established as a demonstration for the Crops Open day on the 14th July. By the end of August it was obvious we were going to have a harvestable crop and plans to forage the crop were shelved.
The grain was harvested at around 25% moisture and yielded in excess of two tonnes per hectare. The crop is well outside its usual range, most sales have to date being limited to the south east of England.
There will be an opportunity to see next years sunflower crop at the Crops Open Day on the 13 July 2006.