Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Apr 04 2016

Registration is now open for the 34th annual Summer Seminar, scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, June 28-29-30 at the Ramado Hotel in Bismarck, ND. Click here to register online. A block of rooms has been reserved at Ramada for June 28-29 under the “National Sunflower Association.” To reserve a room, guests may call 1-800-554-7077. The program is being finalized now and more information will be coming soon. Check the NSA website for further updates. See you in Bismarck!

ND Oilseed Council Election Results

North Dakota sunflower producer Art Ridl has been elected to his fourth three-year term on the ND Oilseed Council. Ridl will also continue to serve as President of the NSA Board of Directors. Ridl represents District7, which includes the North Dakota counties of McKenzie, Dunn, Mercer, Oliver, Stark/Billings, Golden Valley, Slope, Hettinger, Bowman, Adams, Grant, Sioux, and Morton. Also, in District 6, Jeff Oberholtzer of Mohall, ND was elected to his fourth three-year term as a ND Oilseed Council member and NSA Board member. District 6 includes the North Dakota counties of Burke, Mclean, Ward, Divide, McHenry, Renville, Bottineau, Williams, and Mountrail. And, in District 1, Scott Nelson was re-elected to a second three-year term as a ND Oilseed Council member and NSA Board member. District 1 includes the North Dakota counties of Pembina, Cavalier, Ramsey, Walsh, Nelson, and Grand Forks.

Sunflower Stocks Increase

According to USDA, sunflower stocks in all positions on March 1, 2016 totaled 1.06 billion pounds, 52 percent above March 1, 2015. All stocks stored on farms totaled 461 million pounds and off-farm stocks totaled 599 million pounds. Stocks of oil type sunflower seed are 768 million pounds; of this total, 325 million pounds are on-farm stocks and 443 million pounds are off-farm stocks. Non-oil sunflower stocks totaled 292 million pounds, with 136 million pounds stored on the farm and 156 million pounds stored off the farm.

Syngenta Scholarship Available

Syngenta invites elgible university students to apply to its annual Syngenta Agricultural Scholarship program. Applicants are asked to share how they have been inspired by someone to be rooted in agriculture, how this inspiration has motivated them to pursue a degree and ultimately a career in the industry, and how they plan to pay it forward and encourage others to be rooted in ag. University 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 as of spring 2016 in an accredited agriculture program at a U.S. land-grant university. This year’s scholarships will be awarded to winners in the fall of 2016. For additional information about the scholarship, including official rules, prize amounts, essay topic and application guidelines, please click here.

April Issue of The Sunflower Now Online

The April issue of The Sunflower is now online. Click here to read.This is the final issue of the 2015-16 magazine year, but we’re always looking for story ideas and planning for next year. If you’ve got a story idea, let us know – it’s easy, just fill out this form on our website.

Upcoming Events

May 29-June 3, 2016: 19th Annual International Sunflower Conference, Edirne, Turkey
June 28-30, 2016: 2016 NSA Summer Seminar, Bismarck, ND

Markets

USDA surprised the sunflower industry when it projected a decrease in oil type sunflower acres for 2016. Most average guesses had oil acres increasing by 10 percent from 2015. USDA pegged the area intended for oil type varieties, at 1.44 million acres, which is down 7 percent from 2015. The area intended for non-oil varieties was estimated at 249,400 acres, down 19 percent from last year. This number was about in line with industry expectations. If realized this would put total sunflower acres at 1.69 million in 2016, down 9 percent from last year. USDA estimated US 2016 corn acres higher than expected, wheat lower and soybean slightly lower. USDA estimated soybean acres at 82.2 million versus 83.0 expected and 82.7 last year. Current soybean to corn ratio may suggest final soybean acres could increase from this estimate. The March USDA report gives producers a benchmark to see what others are thinking of planting in 2016. It also gives them the chance to change their minds and make planting adjustments to take advantage of market opportunities. When making final cropping decisions diversify your crop risk this year and take another look at both confection and oil sunflowers, they maybe among your top-earners.

Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, April 4, 2016 ($/CWT)

	Deliver	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change	2016 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil	Nearby	31.26	33.63	34.69	+1.06	35.37
Fargo, ND	NuSun	19.50	16.50	16.45	-.05	17.05
Enderlin, ND	NuSun	19.50	16.55	16.45	-.10	16.95
Goodland, KS	NuSun	19.95	16.00	15.95	-.05	16.20
Goodland, KS	High Oleic	22.95	17.00	16.95	-.05	17.95

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 4, 2016
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. location)

	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change
Soybean Oil	30.76	31.38	32.44	+1.06
Cotton Oil (psby)	49.26	48.63	49.69	+1.06
Corn Oil	39.00	45.50	45.50	NC