Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Apr 01 2019

County-Level Commodity Estimates Now Available

County-level estimates for 2018 row crops, including sunflower, are now available. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) provides the estimates based primarily on surveys conducted with farmers and ranchers last fall. You can access the statistics using the QuickStats online database, found here.

2018 Crop Quality Report Available Online

The 2018 U.S. Crop Quality Report is now available on the NSA website. To view the report, cllick here. The U.S. Sunflower Crop Quality Report is produced annually by the National Sunflower Association. The report contains useful information about sunflower acreage and production, confection and oil-type seed quality, mid-oleic and high oleic oil quality analysis and oil traits, product specifications, oil trading rules, statistics on marketing the crop. world and U.S. supply and demand tables, sunflower oil and meal exports for the United States and other related topics of interest to those in the industry.

North Dakota Oilseed Council Election Results

North Dakota sunflower producer Scott Nelson has been re-elected to the North Dakota Oilseed Council and the NSA Board of Directors. This is Nelson’s third three-year term, representing District 1, which includes the North Dakota counties of Cavalier, Grand Forks, Nelson, Pembina, Ramsey and Walsh. Thomas John (TJ) Halverson of Tioga was elected in District 6, which includes the counties of Bottineau, Burke, Divide, McHenry, Mclean, Mountrail, Renville, Ward and Williams. Halverson will replace Jeff Oberholtzer on the NSA Board of Directors. And in District 7, Josh Greff of Regent was elected District representative. District 7 includes the North Dakota counties of Adams, Billings, Bowman, Dunn, Golden Valley, Grant, Hettinger, McKenzie, Mercer, Morton, Oliver, Sioux, Slope and Stark. Greff will replace current NSA chairman Art Ridl on the NSA Board of Directors.

Registration is now open for our 2019 NSA Summer Seminar, scheduled for June 26-27, 2019. This year’s Summer Seminar will be held in Medora, North Dakota. You can register on our website – click here. You’ll find our tentative schedule too, as well as hotel information and more. Pre-registration will begin at $325 and golf at $145, so register early for the best price. A block of rooms has been reserved in Medora. To make your reservation, click here select hotel reservations and enter check-in and check-out dates. You also need to enter Group Code 5781. You can also call 1-800-633-6721 and ask for the NSA block of rooms. The program is being finalized now and more information will be coming soon. Contact Tina Mittelsteadt at tinam@sunflowernsa.com with questions.

Syngenta Scholarship Available

Syngenta invites eligible university students to apply for its annual Syngenta Agriculture Scholarship. Students currently pursuing bachelor’s or master’s degrees in crop-related disciplines are eligible to compete for $20,000 in scholarship awards. Applicants must be U.S. residents enrolled in an accredited agriculture program at an eligible university. Scholarship deadline is May 27, 2019. Visit www.syngenta-us.com/scholarships/ for additional information about the scholarship, including official rules, prize amounts, essay topics and application guidelines.

Upcoming Events

June 25-27, 2019: NSA Summer Seminar, Medora, ND

Markets

USDA released its first estimate of 2019 planted acres. Sunflower growers intend to plant 1.35 million acres in 2019, up 4 percent from 2018. Compared with last year, growers in four of the eight major sunflower producing states expect an increase in sunflower acreage this year. The state expecting the largest increase from last year is North Dakota, where planted area is expected to increase 44,000 acres compared with last year. Area intended for oil type varieties, at 1.20 million acres, is up 3 percent from 2018. The increase in oil type acres is lower than industry expectations. Area intended for non-oil varieties, estimated at 150,000 acres, is up 9 percent from last year and is in line with most traders’ thoughts. Corn planted area for all purposes in 2019 is estimated at 92.8 million acres, up 4 percent or 3.66 million acres from last year. Compared with last year, planted acreage is expected to be up or unchanged in 34 of the 48 estimating states. Soybean planted area for 2019 is estimated at 84.6 million acres, down 5 percent from last year. Compared with last year, planted acreage is down or unchanged in 26 of the 29 estimating states. The acreage and grain stocks reports will guide the market as we head into the planting season. It will also give farmers a look at what others are thinking of planting this year and may adjust their plans.

Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, April 1, 2019 ($/CWT)

	Deliver	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change	2019 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil	Nearby	32.04	28.82	28.57	-.25	31.24
Fargo, ND	NuSun	17.80	17.55	17.55	NC	17.25
Fargo, ND	High Oleic	17.60	17.55	17.65	+.10	17.25
Enderlin, ND	NuSun	17.75	17.30	17.45	+.15	17.15
Enderlin, ND	High Oleic	17.75	17.55	17.65	+.10	17.45
Goodland, KS	NuSun	17.05	16.65	16.65	NC	16.75
Goodland, KS	High Oleic	18.05	17.75	17.75	NC	18.00

Prices recorded here are believed to be reliable at the time of posting. All prices are subject to change. Contact these facilities for complete market details.

U.S. CRUDE OIL VALUES recorded on Monday, April 1, 2109
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. location)

	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change
Soybean Oil	30.24	27.82	27.82	NC
Cotton Oil (psby)	30.04	34.82	37.57	+2.75
Corn Oil	34.00	30.00	30.00	NC