The National Sunflower Association (NSA) is a non- profit organization dedicated to the promotion of U.S. sunflower and its products, and to the development of sunflower markets throughout the world. The association is funded and governed by U.S. sunflower growers and industry representatives. NSA is also assisted with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (www.fas.usda.gov) for overseas market development programs.
NSA's international marketing programs and activities include the following:
- Providing technical assistance to foreign companies on oil refining and finished product manufacturing while also providing technical aid to U.S. confection sunflower customers.
- Producing and distributing a variety of literature pertaining to sunflower markets, the U.S. sunflower crop, and sunflower products, including The Sunflower magazine, published six times annually.
- Conducting industrial research overseas, including confection shelf-life and other utilization studies.
- Hosting foreign marketing and technical personnel, arranging meetings with U.S. sunflower industry representatives, setting up tours of U.S. processing and research facilities; and coordinating educational seminars for the benefit of foreign visitors.