Sunflower Highlights
Post Date: Oct 02 2017
Crop Progress
Harvest is underway in North Dakota, with two percent of the sunflower crop reported harvested. Kansas producers also started harvest this week, with three percent of the crop harvested. Both states are on track with last year's crop progress.
Crop Progress - Monday, October 2, 2017
State This Week Last Week Last Year 5 Year Average
North Dakota        
Bracts Yellow 94 84 91 87
Mature 65 48 71 62
Harvested 2 ---- 4 6
South Dakota        
Petals Dry 94 87 84 94
Bracts Yellow 74 59 66 81
Mature 39 25 36 ----
Kansas        
Petals Dry 83 76 83 86
Bracts Yellow 69 59 67 68
Mature 44 32 42 ----
Harvested 3 ---- 4 5
Texas        
Harvested 55 50 57 56
Crop Conditions - Monday, October 2, 2017
State Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent
North Dakota 6 13 39 40 2
South Dakota 5 24 47 20 4
Minnesota 0 1 16 57 26
Colorado 1 4 17 68 10
Kansas 1 5 32 52 10
Grower Report
Brighton, CO producer Tom Kirkmeyer is patiently waiting for his sunflower crop to dry down. He says harvest is still quite a way off, but it all depends on when the frost comes. Kirkmeyer has about 1,200 acres of confection sunflower planted on his farm, which is about 30 miles north of Denver. He says despite the dry summer, it was a pretty uneventful growing season and he says the crop looks fair.  
Call for Papers
Here’s your chance to be a part of the National Sunflower Association’s Research Forum. We’re looking for research papers to be presented at the Forum, set for January 10-11, 2018 in Fargo, ND. Presentations may be either oral or in the form of a poster. A time will be designated for authors to be with their posters and answer questions. Each oral presentation will be limited to 10-12 minutes with 2-3 minutes allowed for questions. If you are interested in presenting a paper at the Forum, submit your application on our website, www.sunflowernsa.com/Research/call-for-papers/. You do not have to submit the actual paper or poster at this time, just the information indicated online and the author information. Submissions must be completed by November 15, 2017. If you plan to attend, registration will be open on our website soon.
Are Your Bins Ready?
As harvest approaches, take time to make sure your bins are ready. Bins with perforated floors work better for drying sunflower than those with ducts. Aeration is essential, especially in larger bins. Aeration may be accomplished with floor mounted ducts or portable aerators. Aeration fans should deliver 1/10 to 1 cfm per cwt of sunflower. If aeration is not available, sunflower should be rotated between bins to avoid hot spots developing in the stored grain. For more on harvest and storage, click here.
Upcoming Events
December 5-6, 2017 - Ag Horizons, Pierre, SD
January 10-11, 2018 – NSA Research Forum, Fargo, ND
June 26-28, 2018 – NSA Summer Seminar, Arrowwood Resort, Alexandria, MN
Markets
USDA released its September ending stocks report for sunflower last week. Old crop sunflower stocks in all positions on September 1, 2017 totaled 649 million pounds, up 57 percent from a year ago. All stocks stored on farms totaled 134 million pounds and off-farm stocks totaled 515 million pounds. Stocks of oil type sunflower seed are 495 million pounds; of this total, 115 million pounds are on-farm stocks and 379 million pounds are off-farm stocks. Non-oil sunflower stocks totaled 154 million pounds, with 18.9 million pounds stored on the farm and 135 million pounds stored off the farm. Stocks of oil type sunflower seed were significantly higher than last year at this time but within industry expectations. Given the expected reduction in 2017 oil type production, this should allow the oil crush to stay close to this year’s level. Non-oil stocks decreased 13% and were also in line with industry estimates. Initial estimates peg the US sunflower crop at around 800,000 metric tons, which compares to last year’s total of 1.2 million metric tons. If realized this level of production will create very tight ending stocks at the end of the 2017/18 marketing year despite the larger carryover seed stocks reported by USDA. USDA will issue its first estimate of the 2017 sunflower crop on October 12. This report could be key to prices going forward.
Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, October 2, 2017 ($/CWT)
  Deliver Last Year Last Week This Week Change 2017 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil Nearby 33.05 33.78 32.38 -1.50 32.52
Fargo, ND NuSun 17.30 17.10 17.00 -.10 NQ
Enderlin, ND NuSun 17.60 16.80 16.55 -.25 NQ
Goodland, KS NuSun 16.40 16.70 16.45 -.25 NQ
Goodland, KS High Oleic 18.40 17.70 17.45 -.25 NQ
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, October 2, 2017
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. location)
  Last Year Last Week This Week Change
Soybean Oil 31.55 31.28 30.02 -1.26
Cotton Oil (psby) 43.05 32.78 31.28 -1.50
Corn Oil 46.00 37.50 37.50 NC
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