Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Feb 19 2019

National Sclerotinia Initiative to Meet in Fargo

Representatives of the National Sunflower Association will gather at the annual National Sclerotinia Initiative meeting next month. The meeting will be held March 14-15 in Fargo, ND. The Initiative supports projects aimed at neutralizing white mold’s economic threat to seven different crops: sunflower, soybean, canola, edible dry beans, chickpeas, lentils and dry peas.The Sclerotinia consortium of federal and state university scientists includes 10 commodity groups, and it is led by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the USDA’s chief scientific research agency.

FMC to Sponsor Annual Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser

The National Sunflower Association is pleased to announce FMC will be sponsoring this year’s Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser. The fundraiser is an annual tradition during the NSA Summer Seminar. The fun event gives participants a chance to win great prizes while contributing to the scholarship fund. This year’s fundraiser will be held on Tuesday, June 25 at in Medora, North Dakota.

Sunflower Production Meetings Scheduled

The High Plains Sunflower Committee, Kansas Sunflower Commission and K-State Research and Extension are together hosting three sunflower production schools from February 27-March 1. The schools will cover hot topics on sunflower production, including new innovations in sunflower production, planting, fertility, weed control, and insect control. In addition, representatives from the industry will review recent hybrid plot results and marketing opportunities. The schools will be held in three locations across the state– Beloit on February 27, Hutchinson on February 28 and Garden City on March 1. Click here to reserve your spot by February 26 online or by call the hosting K-State Extension office.

NSA Scholarship Available

The National Sunflower Association is seeking applicants for the Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship. In tribute to the dedicated work of Curtis Stern, an industry advocate and former NSA board member, the NSA Board of Directors established a memorial scholarship in his name. Funds assist students who study in the field of agriculture with a special emphasis on sunflower production, promotion, or research. Preference will be given to students who are in their last two years of undergraduate studies or in graduate level studies and have maintained at least a cumulative 3.0 GPA on a 4.0=A scale. Application deadline is April 1, 2019. A total of $3,500 is available for the scholarship this year. Applications can be submitted online. Click here to learn more. Contact Tina Mittelsteadt at tinam@sunflowernsa.com with any questions.

NSA Board of Directors Meets This Week

The National Sunflower Association Board of Directors will meet February 20-21, in Fargo, ND. The meeting’s focus will be primarily on research—the board will decide which research projects to fund.

Upcoming Events

March 19, 2019
NSA High Plains Committee Meeting, Goodland, KS

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

Markets

We are still in the price discovery process for 2019 crop insurance price elections. Currently, oil type sunflowers are at $16.80 and confections are $22.60 per cwt. To follow sunflower price election trends, watch the 2019 CBoT December soyoil contract through February 28. Final price elections will be announced in early March.The long-awaited final crop production estimates were released by USDA last week. The market was trading in a fog the past month without any fundamental data. USDA reduced 2017 sunflower production slightly but increased 2018 production almost ten percent higher from its October estimate. Total production was pegged at 2.12 billion pounds, down 1 percent from 2017. The US average yield per acre of 1,731 pounds increased 128 pounds from 2017 and was a record high for the US. With some numbers in hand old and new crop sunflower markets will be able to trade on supply and demand fundamentals in the months ahead. USDA will update its statistical guesses at itsannual Agricultural Outlook Forumthis week. Traders will pay close attention to USDA’s expectations for 2019 planted acres, supply & demand outlooks along with ending stocks figures. This will give the market some numbers to crunch ahead of the March reports.Traders will also continue to focus on South America weather reports and crop prospects as February is the critical month for oilseed development.

Weekly Prices Recorded on Tuesday, February 19, 2019 ($/CWT)

	Deliver	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change	2019 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil	Nearby	31.86	30.33	29.74	-.59	31.03
Fargo, ND	NuSun	17.35	17.25	17.25	NC	17.25
Fargo, ND	High Oleic	17.25	17.00	17.00	NC	17.25
Enderlin, ND	NuSun	17.20	16.90	17.10	+.20	17.00
Enderlin, ND	High Oleic	17.20	17.40	17.45	+.05	17.60
Goodland, KS	NuSun	16.70	16.55	16.55	NC	16.75
Goodland, KS	High Oleic	17.70	17.65	17.65	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 Tuesday, February 19, 2109
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. location)

	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change
Soybean Oil	30.06	29.53	28.94	-.59
Cotton Oil (psby)	29.86	36.33	35.74	-.59
Corn Oil	37.00	30.00	30.00	NC