Sunflower Highlights
Post Date: Aug 29 2016
Crop Progress
Harvest is underway in Texas, and getting closer for producers in other states. In North Dakota, 3% of the crop is reported mature. And the harvest looks promising, with 73% of North Dakota's sunflower crop rated in good to excellent condition. Colorado also reports 71% of the sunflower crop in that state in good to excellent condition.
Crop Progress - Monday, August 29, 2016
State This Week Last Week Last Year 5 Year Average
North Dakota        
Petals Dry 66 43 53 35
Bracts Yellow 30 NA 12 NA
Mature 3 NA NA NA
South Dakota        
Blooming 79 77 96 95
Petals Dry 13 43 28 24
Texas        
Harvested 22 20 38 26
Kansas        
Blooming 89 81 85 86
Petals Dry 15 6 17 27
Crop Conditions - Monday, August 29, 2016
State Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent
North Dakota 1 4 22 67 6
South Dakota 2 6 39 51 2
Minnesota 2 3 37 50 8
Colorado 0 3 26 63 8
Kansas 0 2 28 63 7
Benefits of Desiccation
Now is a great time to start thinking about desiccating your sunflower crop. Getting the crop harvested several weeks early can result in higher yields and lower drying costs. Late season crop damage and blackbird damage can be reduced and desiccation may also slow down head diseases such as Sclerotinia. Early dry down can also minimize artificial drying costs. September and the first half of October harvest can often allow the use of air- drying to lower seed moisture in storage. Click here for more about desiccation.
USDA Provides Help With Blackbirds
As sunflowers ripen, blackbirds are beginning to appear and cause problems. The USDA can help; click here for a map with phone numbers for USDA Wildlife Services personnel that can help North Dakota producers that have blackbird problems. They will respond to you during the damage season by providing loaner cannons and pyrotechnics. These offices will provide further assistance in an attempt to break up large roosts. Some other ways to reduce damage include cattail management, cannons, harassment, desiccants, and repellants. These can be even more effective when used in combination.
Markets
Old crop sunflower prices continue to trade about $1.00 per cwt. higher than the 60 day moving average at the North Dakota crush plants. New crop prices were trimmed last week following the price action on the CBoT. Last week’s Pro Farmer crop tour suggested a little higher US soybean yield and production than the USDA August estimate. This has some in the trade raising their estimate of the US soybean crop. Some industry analysts think that the current USDA soybean crop rating could suggest that the final US soybean yield could be as much as 10 percent above trend yields. This would add about 250 million bushels to the final US crop. The talk of a bigger US soybean crop offered resistance to prices and triggered liquidation in beans and products on the CBoT. There is some chatter that China may be slowing new buying due to large imports and a drop in margins. There was also talk that both Brazil and Argentina farmers may have increased cash selling. Talk that Argentina may delay the lowering of the soybean export tax until next spring may have triggered some farmer selling. It looks as if weather won’t be much of a factor in this week’s trading as the weather outlook calls for normal to above temps and normal rains.
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