Blonde Girl On A Field Of Sunflowers

Sunflower oil, extracted from the seeds, is used for cooking, as a carrier oil and to produce margarine and biodiesel, as it is cheaper than olive oil. A range sunflower varieties exist with differing fatty acid compositions; some 'high oleic' types contain a higher level healthy monounsaturated fats in their oil than even olive oil.
The cake remaining after the seeds have been processed for oil is used as a livestock feed. Some recently developed cultivars have drooping heads. These cultivars are less attractive to gardeners growing the flowers as ornamental plants, but appeal to farmers, because they reduce bird damage and losses from some plant diseases. Sunflowers also produce latex and are the subject experiments to improve their suitability as an alternative crop for producing hypoallergenic rubber.
Traditionally, several Native American groups planted sunflowers on the north edges their gardens as a "fourth sister" to the better known three sisters combination corn, beans, and squash. Annual species are ten planted for their allelopathic properties.
However, for commercial farmers growing commodity crops, the sunflower, like any other unwanted plant, is ten considered a weed. Especially in the midwestern US, wild (perennial) species are ten found in corn and soybean fields and can have a negative impact on yields.