Sunflowers Near Foley Become Roadside Attraction

(KNSI) – The sunflowers blooming near the junction of Highways 23 and 25 outside Foley have turned into an unexpected roadside attraction.

John Schafer owns J&J Grain in Foley and farms roughly 300 acres of sunflowers on rented land. The flowers are a cash crop, grown for Tom Smude of Smude’s Sunflower Oil in Pierz, who crushes the seeds to produce cooking oil.

Jake Judd/KNSI News

KNSI News sat down with Schafer on Thursday and asked if he expected the flowers to be such a hit with the public. “No, I didn’t. I’d never grown them before, so I didn’t realize how beautiful they really are and people really enjoy seeing them.”

He explained what got him into sunflower farming. “We started growing them because we were talking with Tom about another crop to grow other than corn or soybeans. Just looking for another grain to put out there. It wasn’t a small grain, you know, something a little different.”

The bloom typically runs from the end of July into the first week of August, and the window to see this year’s crop at its peak is closing. Schafer said the heads have already begun to tip downward, though the petals should hold their color unless a heavy rain knocks them off.

The crop will be dried down after Labor Day, with harvest targeted for late September into the first week of October.

It’s the second year Schafer has grown the crop. Last year’s field was closer to Foreston. Schafer said he hasn’t picked next year’s fields yet. That decision comes down to soil analysis and crop rotation, but he’s leaning toward the Oak Park area in 2027.

For anyone stopping on the side of the road looking to get a last-minute photo, Schafer has some advice. “We just don’t want to have someone parked and someone not paying attention, looking at the flowers, hits a car parked alongside the road that shouldn’t have been there. So that’s the biggest thing.”

He pointed to a spot to pull off and walk in on 73rd Street Northeast, a gravel road off Highway 25.

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