Autaugaville sunflower field skips 2026 bloom, plans return in 2027
Autaugaville’s Sunflower Field will sit out 2026 after a wet, dry-whiplash spring made planting too risky, leaving Highway 14 without one of its biggest warm-weather draws.
The Sunflower Field in Autaugaville will skip sunflowers in 2026 after dry weather early in planting season gave way to excessive rain, making this year’s crop too risky to pursue. Owners Todd and Kim Sheridan said they plan to plant a different crop later in the year and try to bring the blooms back in 2027, keeping one of Highway 14’s best-known warm-weather stops in the family’s rotation.
For families, photographers and church groups who make the drive to Alabama State Hwy. 14 and Autauga County Road 33, the pause means a lost season of wagon rides, cut flowers and the open-field backdrop that has turned the farm into a destination. Nearby businesses and roadside vendors that benefit from sunflower-season traffic will also lose one of the county’s most reliable summer draws. The site lists the attraction at 101 County Road 33 and 3301 Hwy. 14 West, Autaugaville, AL 36003, and its short bloom window has always made timing everything.
Sunflowers bloom only once for about 10 days, and when the Sheridans stagger two plantings, the season can stretch to about 20 to 25 days. That narrow window is part of what makes the field so sensitive to weather. A spring that is too dry to start the crop and then too wet to finish it leaves little room to recover, which is exactly what happened this year.
The farm began as a sunflower crop in summer 2016, after the Sheridans lost a small business in 2009 during the economic crash. What started with flowers grown for cooking oil and bulk bird seed soon became a place where visitors could stop, take pictures and buy cut stems. Todd Sheridan has continued farming in the same fields his grandfather once worked, turning a family patch of ground into a recognizable Autauga County landmark.
The 2026 skip also carries economic weight beyond the field gate. Alabama Farmers Federation data says agriculture, forestry and related industries generate a $915 million annual impact in Autauga County and support 7,328 jobs, a reminder that weather decisions on one farm can ripple across the local economy. For a seasonal attraction built around a narrow bloom window, 2027 now depends on a cleaner planting season and weather that lets the crop take hold when it should.
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