Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: May 01 2017

2017 Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship Recipient Announced

Brady Hauswedell is the recipient of this year’s Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship, administered by the National Sunflower Association. Hauswedell is currently pursuing his master’s degree at South Dakota State University under the supervision of Dr. Adam Varenhorst and will graduate in May 2018. His degree is focused on entomology and pathology components in sunflower; he is evaluating the impact that insecticide seed treatments and in-furrow applied insecticides have on sunflower yield. Data collected will be used to develop new management recommendations for sunflower with the goal of reducing unnecessary or ineffective inputs to maximize the profit returns for sunflower farmers. Hauswedell earned his undergraduate from SDSU in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Agronomy and a minor in Precision Agriculture.

Canadian Sunflower Acreage to Decrease

Stats Canada estimated producers will plant around 50,000 acres to sunflowers in 2017 representing a decrease of 29 percent from 2016. Manitoba is the leading sunflower producing province accounting for nearly all the sunflower grown in Canada, with its southwest corner a prime growing region. Acreage has ranged from 70,000 to 95,000 acres in recent years. Competition from other crops, especially soybean, has led to the reduction in acres.

Kits to Prevent Combine Fires Available for Order

After five years of testing, a hardware system will soon be available to prevent combine fires during sunflower harvest. The system has been tested on several common combine models over five harvest seasons and has successfully allowed producers to utilize full machine capacity without fires, even during warm dry harvest seasons. There are currently eight installations of this solution in use in the Dakotas. Kits will be available for purchase beginning later this year. Orders will be taken until July 1, 2017 for this first round of production. Click here to learn more and to download an order form, visit . The system was developed by Daniel Humburg, based on his research conducted at South Dakota State University, and funded by the South Dakota Oilseeds Council and the National Sunflower Association.

Registration is now open on our website for the 2017 NSA Summer Seminar. This year’s Summer Seminar is the 35^th annual. It will be held June 27-29, 2017 at the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn in Rapid City, South Dakota. Register now, as prices will increase closer to the event. Click here to register online. A block of rooms has been reserved there for June 27-28. To make your reservation, click here. Enter your check-in and check-out date. You also need to enter SA1 in the group code box. You can also call the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn at 605-348-4000 and book your room. The block of rooms is listed under National Sunflower Association. Contact Tina with any questions.

Discount Available for New Book About Blackbirds

Order your copy of “Ecology and Management of Blackbirds (Icteridae) in North America” from our website. Click here to download an order form. Orders placed this way will receive a 20% discount. The book by George M. Linz, Michael L. Avery, and Richard A. Dolbeer, summarizes the biology and life histories of blackbirds and their conflicts with humans into a single volume for researchers, wildlife managers, agriculturists, disease biologists, ornithologists, policy makers, and the public. It provides in-depth coverage of the functional roles of blackbirds in natural and agricultural ecosystems. The book will officially be released on June 20.

Upcoming Events

June 27-29, 2017 – NSA Summer Seminar, Rapid City, SD
January 10-11, 2018 – NSA Research Forum, Fargo, ND

Markets

The sunflower market has traded sideways the past three weeks. Ample supplies and strong deliveries by producers has kept the pipeline full at the crush plants. Old and new crop prices were unchanged to up 15 cents in the past week. At the CBoT, talk that wet weather could reduce US final corn and spring wheat acres has offered resistance to soybean prices. Traders are thinking that If US farmers are unable to plant intended corn and spring wheat acres they could shift to soybeans. US/World 2017/18 soybean supply outlook already looks burdensome and this would add to the stockpile. Markets were also rattled last week when it was announced that President Trump was going to sign an executive order that would start the process of US pulling out of NAFTA. Prices plunged on this rumor but the Trump administration later backtracked from that position in phone calls to the leaders of Canada and Mexico. On the plus side, the value of the dollar fell against a basket of currencies to the lowest level since November last week. This is bullish for agricultural commodities that are traded in dollars as it gives overseas buyers more purchasing power and could lead to an increase in exports. Weather remains the biggest short term question mark for traders right now and will guide the market in the week ahead.

Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, May 1, 2017 ($/CWT)

	Deliver	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change	2017 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil	Nearby	32.19	31.69	31.89	+.20	32.66
Fargo, ND	NuSun	16.25	14.90	14.90	NC	16.50
Enderlin, ND	NuSun	16.45	14.90	15.05	+.15	16.70
Goodland, KS	NuSun	16.35	13.75	13.85	+.10	14.80
Goodland, KS	High Oleic	17.35	15.40	15.50	+.10	16.80

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, May 1, 2017
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. location)

	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change
Soybean Oil	29.94	29.19	29.39	+.20
Cotton Oil (psby)	47.19	37.69	38.16	+.47
Corn Oil	45.50	43.00	43.50	+.50