Growing Safflower in Utah

Introduction Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), is an annual oilseed crop (Figure 1). It is a member of the Asteraceae family and is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like plant, usually with many long, sharp spines on the leaves and flower head. Early reports show that it has been grown in the U.S. in experimental test plots since 1928 (Berglund, Riverland, & Bergman, 2007) and on a commercial basis in Utah since 1957 by area producers for Pacific Vegetable Oils (PVO) (Smith, 1996). Safflower is currently grown in California, Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, Nebraska and Utah.