With their large, sun-inspired blossoms straining toward the heavens, sunflowers are one of the most popular and recognized flowers in the world.

"I understand the attraction,” says Eric Franzenburg, a Benton County Farm Bureau member from Pheasant Run Farm near Belle Plaine. “Everything is so green at that time of year, when the sunflowers are in bloom, the large, bright golden yellow blooms stand out. Several acres of them is quite a sight.”

Pheasant Run is one of several sunflower farms in the state. Like most, Franzenburg’s fields are part of a larger, more traditional farming operation.

“It was a good way for us to...