Dive Brief:

• South Dakota is now the nation's top producer of oil and confectionery sunflowers. The state took the title for only the second time in history as production rose 12% to about 997 million pound.
• North Dakota fell to second place as poor weather pushed production 58% lower to about 608 million pounds.
• Oil sunflowers are used to produce the cooking oil seen on kitchen counters across the country. Confectionery sunflowers are used to make candy and birdseeds.

Dive Insight:

There's nothing like a cross-border, food-production rivalry to get us all excited in the morning. We love this stuff. Our only question is what's wrong with Kansas? They, after all, are the sunflower state.