The crop also has the advantage of being a legume and thus requires no N fertilizer. Sunflowers are widely adapted in the United States but are most commonly grown in the western and northern Corn Belt. Sunflowers have been grown in localized areas of the Southeast for 15 or 20 years primarily where there are specialty markets for the seed. Some cultivars of sunflowers have a short growing season, and the crop has potential in double-cropping scenarios either as the first or second crop. It was difficult to measure the yield of sunflowers in our research plots because of bird damage.
Mechanical harvesting requires the use of specialized combine headers.
Okra is a crop with considerable potential as an oil seed, but the growth habits of most cultivars currently grown make harvesting for seed impractical. Okra ripens one pod at a time on each stalk over a period of 2 or 3 months. When ripe, the pods of most cultivars dehisce and most of the seeds either fall out or are rain damaged. The data shown here which were collected by hand-harvesting mature pods at frequent intervals show the potential for oil and oil seed meal production by okra. Research by nutritionists has shown that okra meal may be useful as a human food source.