Hannibal family diversifies farm with cold-pressed sunflower oil
The Brown family’s flower patch is the envy of any gardener. In the late summer their 20-acre field explodes in gold. As they grow, cheerful sunflower heads track the sun during the day as they reach nearly 6 feet tall. While the beauty of the native-to-Missouri crop makes the summertime special at Show Me HH Farms in Hannibal, the real magic starts after harvest.
Kent and Kathy Brown, along with their son, Phillip, and daughter-in-law, Amberlyn, planted their first sunflowers on 10 acres in 2021. After they harvested the crop, they became the second farm in the U.S. to cold press sunflower oil. Essentially, a machine cold presses the seeds to extract the oil. This means, Kent says, they don’t have to use high heat, solvents or chemicals, which is the method for most oils found in grocery stores.
People can visit the farm during the 10-day blooming period to take photos with the flowers or just enjoy the beauty of the field. Blooming will likely happen in early August. After harvest, the family cold presses the seeds into sunflower oil.
The cold-press process creates a pure, golden oil with a slightly nutty flavor that even smells like sunflowers when you open the bottle. The sunflowers they plant are a high-oleic variety, so the oil contains a high monounsaturated omega 3 fatty acid and vitamins E and K.
“We want people to know sunflower oil is healthy,” Kathy says. “It’s good for digestion, it’s lighter than olive oil and it tastes good. Plus, you can do about anything you want to with it.”
The Browns, members of Ralls County Electric Cooperative, have grown corn and soybeans on their farm for years. But during one sleep-deprived night, Phillip was awake with the baby, watching PBS. He saw a segment on pressing sunflower oil and started dreaming. Before long, the rest of the family was on board with diversifying the farm using sunflowers as a high-value crop. Kent connected with the only other farmer he could find growing and cold pressing sunflowers and drove to Georgia to meet him and trade ideas.
Agronomically speaking, the Browns understood the basics of sunflower production. They plant sunflowers in June and typically see them bloom 60 days later. In late October, the sunflowers are ready to harvest. They retrofitted some of their traditional farm machinery to fit the new crop. Their biggest challenge is weed control, as they don’t spray any chemicals on the sunflowers.
After the sunflower seeds are cleaned, they are cold pressed in custom equipment to capture the oil. Kent says it takes about 30 hours to press seeds to fill a 30-gallon drum with oil. The filtered oil is then placed in 8- and 16-ounce bottles, heat sealed and labeled.
To make oil, they clean and press the dried seeds. The seeds are then loaded into a large oil press. To fill one 30-gallon drum of oil, seeds are pressed for about 30 hours. The oil then is filtered, a 4-hour process, before bottling, sealing and labeling.
Last year, the Browns received one of 28 grants through the Show-Me Entrepreneurial Grants for Agriculture Program, which supports Missouri businesses adding value to agricultural products. This allowed the Browns to build a large metal building and storefront for their business.
Sunflower heads can contain up to 2,000 seeds. By planting 20 acres of sunflowers, Kent says they hope to harvest around 30,000 pounds of seeds this fall to press during the winter months into more than 1,500 gallons of sunflower oil.
Kathy works as a quality sanitation leader at General Mills in Hannibal, and Kent retired from there five years ago. So, the couple brings extensive food-handling and safety knowledge to the sunflower operation. Phillip handles much of the farm side and Amberlyn heads up shipping, marketing and more.
The Browns sell oil at their storefront and through a handful of retail partners, but they have found a larger customer base through farmers markets. Depending on the week, they can have a booth at the markets in Hannibal, Lake St. Louis, Tower Grove and St. Charles.
Sunflower oil is more commonly used in European countries, where sunflowers are a more popular crop. “At the St. Louis markets you meet so many different people,” Kathy says. “We’ve met several people from Ukraine. One tasted our oil and said, ‘It tastes just like home.’ ”
At the Brown household, sunflower oil is the only oil you’ll find. They use it for all cooking, but they say it stands out with certain foods. Kathy loves chicken fried in it while Kent says potatoes fried in it taste just like potato chips because the oil is so light. Kathy also says it makes a fantastic salad dressing, while Amberlyn says you can’t beat asparagus pan-seared in it.
The finished product, the Browns are proud to say, is grown, cleaned, pressed and bottled all by their family. This year will mark the family’s fourth year of cold pressing sunflower oil on their farm. Bottles that are 8 ounces sell for $10 and 16-ounce bottles sell for $15.
Sunflower oil is also a natural fit for high-temperature outdoor griddles. The smoke point is 450 degrees, Kent says, which makes it great for cooking food on a griddle without burning it.
However, sunflower oil doesn’t have to stay in the kitchen. Kent said some have bought their oil to make cosmetics, and Amberlyn uses the oil as a carrier for essential oils. They also sell oil to a fellow Missouri business, Silvey’s Soap. Owner Kim Silvey creates small-batch soaps using the sunflower oil.
This year, the Browns have planted 20 acres of sunflowers. People can visit the farm during the 10-day blooming period, which will likely happen in early August. During your visit, you can buy a bottle of sunflower oil from Show Me HH Farms, bars of Silvey’s Soap, local honey and locally grown popcorn in the farm store or take photos with the sunflowers and just enjoy the beauty of the field.
To learn more about Show Me HH Farms, visit www.facebook.com/showmehhfarms or call 573-406-2608. It is one of 600 companies in the Buy Missouri initiative overseen by Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe. To find more Missouri-made products, visit www.BuyMissouri.net.