Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: May 04 2020

Reducing blackbird damage

A good strategy to reducing blackbird damage is to plant as early as possible and desiccate the crop. In many cases, producers have been about to get the cop all harvested before the birds even more in. The earliest plant date for Minnesota was April 21. In North Dakota, it is May 6 for most counties north of Highway 200 and May 11 for the remaining counties, based on the USDA RMA early planting dates. Why take a chance when it comes to blackbirds when you can have a good sunflower crop? Maximize your return by planting early and getting the crop harvested as soon as possible.

Reminder about stored seed

Producers who have stored seed are reminded to keep a close eye on seed moisture. It is a good idea to have bins probed and tested regularly to protect your investment.

NSA website provides helpful information for producers

Do you have questions about growing sunflower? You’ll find the answers to all your questions on our website. Visit www.sunflowernsa.com and click on the “growers” section; you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions there as well as links to more information about many important topics, including approved chemicals, production, marketing, crop insurance and more.

Send us your story ideas

We want to hear from you! We are planning articles for the 2020-21 issues of The Sunflower magazine. Growers, researchers, industry members – what topics would you like us to write about? Click here to submit your ideas!

Markets

Sunflower prices had stayed relatively firm in the first few months of 2020 but have lost a little traction in the past two weeks from the market high on increased producer sales. The nearby price rolled to the May contract last week with NuSun prices unchanged to up 40 cents and high oleic prices unchanged to up 30 cents. New crop prices were unchanged to down 20 cents. President Trump rattled traders with his tweets threatening China with retaliatory tariffs after Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products slowed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration is growing increasingly frustrated with Beijing’s lack of adherence to the Phase 1 agreement. The White House is also discussing punitive measures against China for its alleged role in the global spread of the coronavirus. It is too early to tell if President Trump will follow through on any of this. If he does it will likely be met by significant Chinese retaliation, which could inflict losses in corn and soybean prices on the CBoT. In addition to news relating to the potential dispute with China, weather and planting progress will remain the biggest short-term question marks for traders and will guide the market in the week ahead. There is still time to take advantage of the market opportunities that sunflowers can offer as processors are still offering Act of God (AOG) and cash new crop contracts.