Kids digging into their school lunches, shoppers at a major U.S. grocery chain and consumers in Greece eating a favorite tasty snack have something in common: They’re all enjoying sunflower seeds grown by CHS farmer-owners and processed at CHS facilities.
在一个典型的年份, CHS的农场主增加了大约40个,000 to 50,000 acres of confection seeds — the edible kind sold as snacks or ingredients in the shell or as kernels — as well as about 5,000英亩的油菜种子, a cross between oil seeds (which are used for sunflower oil and birdseed) and confection seeds.
Potential profits in sunflower production and processing
向日葵可能很难种植, 但这种作物也可以盈利, 克雷格·赫茨加德说, 金德的第五代农民, N.D., who’s been rotating 向日葵 with corn, soybeans and sugar beets for about 10 years.
“因为向日葵是一种次要作物, there hasn’t been much research in developing products for weed control and disease control,他说. “So we have to develop a system for planting them at a time when we can control weeds early and during the growing season.”
Hertsgaard says he appreciates the 质量 and consistency of CHS Royal Hybrid® sunflower seed. “The varieties are well adapted to the soils we have in the Red River Valley,他说. “The equipment we use to plant 向日葵 is very sensitive to seed 质量 and sizing, and CHS is able to produce a product that works well in our planting equipment.”
CHS is the only major sunflower processor that maintains its own hybrid seed division, 配有育婴室, greenhouse and laboratory facilities staffed by seed genetics experts. Those experts put thousands of hybrids through rigorous lab tests and field trials each year to select the most desirable characteristics based on customer input and market demand — for example, 丰富的味道, 皇冠hga010安卓二维码内核, 大尺寸, 独特的形状, 提高产量和品质.
Sunflower seeds are not genetically modified, which is important when selling into European markets that ban GMO crops, 德文·高格勒说, origination manager and agronomist for the CHS sunflower business.
Gaugler says the farmers he supports appreciate having 向日葵 in their rotation because the plants thrive in dry conditions. They also root deeply enough to recover nutrients that shallow-rooted crops like wheat and soybeans didn’t use the previous year. “A sunflower will tap into that deep nutrient load,他说. “这可以节省一些成本.”
了解更多澳门皇冠赌场平台 growing, buying and processing 向日葵.
准备和加工葵花籽
After Hertsgaard and other contracted farmers harvest and dry their sunflower seeds, they deliver them to the CHS processing facility in Grandin, N.D. There, the seeds are dried, cleaned and sized. The largest seeds are generally sold as inshell seeds, while medium-sized seeds are hulled for the kernel market and the smallest seeds are used in birdseed and pet food.
一旦它们被清洗和大小, some sunflower seeds are sent straight to domestic and international customers who do their own processing, while others go to the CHS facility in Fargo, N.D., for pasteurization, oil roasting and dry roasting.
院长Hjelden, 谁澳门皇冠赌场平台法戈的工厂, describes the facility’s pasteurization process as “very state-of-the-art, 非常现代的.” Cocoa bean roasting equipment from Holland was modified specifically for the CHS sunflower processing plant. “The equipment was designed for gentle handling,” Hjelden says. “It provides thorough pasteurization without compromising the texture, 质量, 葵花籽的颜色或味道.”
About 80% of the seeds are sold to domestic customers and 20% are exported — mainly to Spain and Greece. About 85% are sold in-shell for roasting and flavoring, while 15% are sold as kernels with the shells removed for snacks or as a food ingredient.
CHS的独特之处, 说Gaugler, is attention to the product through the whole journey from breeding seeds to finding markets.
“我们培育种子, 我们生产种子, 我们支持种植它的农民, 我们把它带进来，处理它,他说. “Sometimes farmers are hesitant to do business with specialty crop processors because of the unpredictability of today’s marketplace. 在CHS, growers can be assured they have the backing and resources of the entire enterprise to help them do everything possible to grow a high-质量 crop and maximize their returns.”
