Each year, sunflower crops on the plains draw crowds from the cities, and loved-up men keen to create an unforgettable proposal experience for their girlfriends.

With the drought’s grip yet to release the land, this year’s crops lie in the balance, with planting normally done in spring.

Liverpool Plains Shire Council’s tourism manager Nikki Robertson said ordinarily, sunflowers were in full bloom in December and the word soon got around the state and further afield.

“Sunflowers are very popular so when they grow, people come up in droves,” she said.

“They come from Sydney, Newcastle and Southern Queensland.”

In a good year, Ms Robertson receives numerous calls from people who want to find out where to go to see the crops.

“It’s more boys who want to propose to their girlfriends in the sunflowers, so we put them in touch with a farmer and get permission to photograph in their sunflower crop.”

Spring Ridge farmer James Hockey said he hadn’t planted sunflowers for three years but had been considering it this year because it was too dry to plant sorghum.

“It’s becoming more likely at this stage because we can’t get sorghum in as the season hasn't broken properly yet. We need at least 50mm to get us going,” he said.

“The window for sorghum shuts at Christmas time for us [but] the window’s a lot more open [for sunflowers] – we’ve got from Christmas until about the third week in January.”

On average, “Springfield” normally gets about 600mm of rain a year but this year only 170mm has fallen, with the two biggest rain events in March and October. 

"About a month ago when we had 52mm it only gave us about 20cm of profile so it’s too risky [to plant sorghum] at the moment and that’s disappearing fast.”

The third-generation farmer said sunflowers were a good tourist attraction for the area and he had been contacted in the past by tourists and men who wanted to propose to their girlfriends.

“I think they attract people to district,” he said.

“It is spectacular when they’re in full flower. It’s a sight to see.

“I do love it and I understand why everyone does pull up. When we grow them along the main road, we have traffic stopping all the time.”

Mr Hockey said while the crops were a drawcard for tourism, they were a lot of work because they cause damage to machines, dry out the soil, are at risk of disease and the stubble is difficult to till.

“It’s risky enough in itself [and] a lot of the time, the price isn’t good enough,” he said.

“For the effort of going through it, the price has got to be up there. It’s not a huge yielder and once you’ve finished growing that crop, it takes so much moisture out. And you’re not back in for another 18 months for the next crop.

“The price is a big indicator because you can make good money out of them if the price is right.”

Mr Hockey said he used sunflowers more as a “grass control”.

“It’s just a good option to control our summer grasses and because it’s deep-rooted, it really cracks the soil open and organic matter can fall back through it and aerate it that way. But you force yourself into a mini drought.”

The farmer said paddocks that were planted with sunflowers can’t be used for sunflowers again for another three or four years because of the risk of disease. 

Mr Hockey said he would look at possibly planting mung beans in early 2019 because it doesn’t need as much moisture as sorghum. He already has dryland and irrigated cotton in the ground but has planted half of what he normally would because of the lack of moisture in the soil profile.

“The paddock the [dryland] cotton went into had been under a storm, so it was lot wetter but I’ve probably taken a punt there,” he said.

“At the end of the day, we can only make money when we get yield.”

Mr Hockey said he doesn’t think the drought is going away any time soon.

“I don’t think it’s going to break until next winter. We might get storms and stuff but it’s just hit and miss.

“It gets very frustrating.”

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