It really isn't my intention to turn this into an ag forum, promise.
From the 1983 edition of The Encyclopedia Of Organic Gardening " The sunflower is a remarkably versatile commercial plant. Each part of the plant has an economic use: The entire plant can be used as fodder for livestock or poultry, the flowers yield a yellow die, the pith of the stalk can be used to make paper or a mounting medium for microscope slides. Since it has a specific gravity lower than cork, pith can also be used to make life preservers and belts."
This year I'm planning on using many more sunflowers down on the farm. Three feet inside my fence line I'm going to put a double row as a deer deterrent. Apparently deer are confused by depth not hight. I'm also going to try to plant them in squares and let the dead stalks hold my compost.
The Sunflower Seed Huller and Oil Press