Sunflower Highlights
Post Date: Oct 29 2018
Crop Progress
Harvest is nearly half complete in North Dakota; 49% of the sunflowers planted are reported harvested and 66% of the state's sunflower crop is reported in good to excellent condition. Meantime, harvest in South Dakota is well behind normal, with just 16% of the sunflower crop harvested.
Crop Progress - Monday, October 29, 2018 
State This Week Last Week Last Year 5 Year Average
North Dakota        
Harvested 49 30 53 43
South Dakota        
Harvested 16 8 48 48
Minnesota        
Harvested 58 33 75 69
Kansas        
Harvested 40 25 38 42
Colorado        
Harvested 31 20 28 48
Texas        
Harvested 73 72 72 73
Crop Conditions - Monday, October 29, 2018
State Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent
North Dakota 1 6 27 62 4
Colorado 2 6 19 65 8
Grower Report
Dickinson, ND area producer Art Ridl says so far, so good this sunflower harvest. Ridl says he is about 25% done harvesting his 2,000 acres of sunflower (half of which are high oleic, the other half NuSun). He says so far, yields have been above average.
Call for Papers
We are looking for research papers to be presented at the NSA Research Forum, set for January 9-10, 2019 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. Click here  if you are interested in presenting a paper. 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 16, 2018. Registration for the Research Forum is now open; click here to register on our website. 
Seed Quality
High Plains 2018 2017
Oil Content 41.35% 41.3%
Foreign Material 4.7% 5.8%
Moisture 7.9% 9.3%
Test Weight 29.4 lbs 29.4lbs
Northern Plains 2018 2017
Oil Content 43.7% 43.4%
Foreign Material 3.5% 4.8%
Moisture 8.5% 8.9%
Test Weight 31.0 lbs 30.8 lbs
Upcoming Events
November 27-28, 2018 – Ag Horizons, Pierre, SD
December 4, 2018– High Plains Committee Meeting,Goodland, KS
January 9-10, 2019 – NSA Research Forum, Holiday Inn, Fargo, ND 
June 25-27, 2019 – NSA Summer Seminar, Medora, ND
Markets
Increasing harvest deliveries has led to some nearby price pressure at the crush plants.  NuSun prices at the crush plants ended the week down 10 to 50 cents, while high oleics were down 15 to 50 cents this week. With the current downtrend in nearby prices storing seed for delivery after the first of the year might be something to consider if you have available storage. Premiums of 45 to 65 cents per cwt., depending on the month, are being offered at the ND crush plants for later delivery. Birdfood prices continue to see little movement. In the past week, producers harvested an additional 151,000 acres pushing 2018 harvested acres to almost 379,000 acres. This represents 33% of this year’s projected harvested acres and is behind the five-year average. Seed quality remains generally very good. Yields are being reported in the 1,500-2,700-pound range with some reports over 3,500 pounds. The price discovery period is in progress for crop insurance policies for sunflower and will continue until October 31. Producers should watch the December CBoT soyoil contract as it will allow you to see how prices are tracking. The harvest price per pound for oil-type sunflowers is currently at 15.6 cents and confection sunflowers at 21.80 cents.  This is down .1 cent per pound from last week. The spring prices were 17.5 cents for oils and 23.7 cents for confections.
Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, October 29, 2018 ($/CWT)
  Deliver Last Year Last Week This Week Change 2019 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil Nearby 34.68 29.15 27.89 -1.26 29.47
Fargo, ND NuSun 17.20 NQ 16.90 ---- 17.00
Fargo, ND High Oleic NQ NQ NA ---- 17.00
Enderlin, ND NuSun 17.15 17.05 16.55 -.50 17.00
Enderlin, ND High Oleic 17.15 17.05 16.55 -.50 17.00
Goodland, KS NuSun 16.85 16.85 16.75 -.10 NQ
Goodland, KS High Oleic 17.85 18.00 17.85 -.15 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 October 29, 2018
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. location)
  Last Year Last Week This Week Change
Soybean Oil 32.18 28.65 27.29 -1.36
Cotton Oil (psby) 33.68 31.15 29.89 -1.26
Corn Oil 37.50 30.00 30.00 NC
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