In Oudkarspel, in the Netherlands' North Holland province, many arable farms grew vegetables exclusively during the 1990s. Daily Sunshine took a different path. Brothers Patrick and Leon van Stralen swapped cabbage, potatoes, and carrots for sunflowers. Nearly three decades later, sunflowers remain the company's main crop.

"Vegetable growing was only a marginal business back then," says Patrick. "Leon did an internship at an arable farm that grew sunflowers. We thought, maybe that's something for us. That's how we started, and gradually the vegetables disappeared."

On the left Patrick van Stralen, in the middle influencer and Decorum ambassador Nadia Duran, and on the right Leon van Stralen.

Daily Sunshine now grows seven hectares of sunflowers alongside one hectare of peonies. Sunflowers, however, remain the core of the business. "That's where our specialization lies."

Higher price
Patrick says the market has improved in recent years, though that improvement was badly needed. "The average sunflower price has certainly gone up since 2000. That sounds good, but transport, labor, and fuel have also become much more expensive in the meantime. You simply need that higher price."

Still, he notes that an average price doesn't tell the whole story. "At the auction clock, the average price can be low. If you have quality, you can rise well above that. At one point the average price was 22 cents, and we were still getting around 40 cents. But if your quality isn't good, you simply can't keep up."

Quality as the foundation
That focus on quality runs through the entire growing process, Patrick explains. "It's in everything: row spacing, crop care, all of it has to be right. We're not the biggest grower, and we don't need to be. Because we keep a clear overview of the operation, we can focus much better on producing a good product."

Helianthus Ziggy, Daily Sunshine is the lead grower of Decorum.

That philosophy was reinforced after a major fire destroyed the company's processing barn. Thanks to family support, the business was able to temporarily use a cold store and processing space at a vegetable farm, allowing the season to continue. In the period between the fire and the construction of a new barn, only a smaller facility was available, which led the company to scale back its sunflower area as well.

From fourteen to seven hectares
"We went from about 14 hectares to seven. In hindsight, that wasn't a bad thing at all. The last few hectares often deliver the lowest returns while requiring extra labor. Now the work is easier to plan, and in the end we keep more."

Growing conditions continue to require constant adjustment. This season's crop went into the ground around June 20. Warm weather has slowed growth somewhat but has also reduced disease pressure. Young plants are protected with netting against hares, pigeons, and geese. Part of the field was also hit by a localized hailstorm.

Always taking the next step
Daily Sunshine is working to make its operation more sustainable, though Patrick acknowledges there are still challenges. "You want to become more sustainable, but good alternatives don't yet exist for everything. We do use fertilizers made from natural raw materials. We also have solar panels and a small battery for cooling. You just try to take another step forward each time."

The company sells mainly within a radius of roughly 500 kilometers across Europe. Patrick has noticed growing demand for direct trade relationships. "More and more customers are looking for direct contact, because they want certainty about quality and delivery. That creates opportunities, but we stick to our own way of working. We grow a single standard length and we're not going to adjust our whole production for every individual customer."

There is no successor lined up yet, but as long as the work remains enjoyable, the brothers plan to continue. "I still enjoy it far too much to stop," Patrick says. He does have one message for fellow sunflower growers: "Keep investing in quality. There are always players who think they can jump in quickly, but they usually disappear again just as fast. In the end, a good flower is the foundation of a healthy market."
 

Source:www.floraldaily.com