Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Jan 25 2016

UPDATE FROM SCLEROTINIA INITIATIVE MEETING

Reports from researchers at the annual meeting of the National Sclerotinia Initiative meeting held last week in Minneapolis indicate that positive progress is being made on this difficult disease. The disease affects most broadleaf crops and requires multiple genes for resistance. The greatest progress is being made with improved genetics. Resistant genes are being identified in a number of wild sunflower species. Transferring those genes to cultivated sunflower is the present task. The Initiative is federally funded and includes others crops such as soybean, canola, peas, lentils and edible beans. Researchers from 14 different states are involved in projects and there is a great deal of collaboration among universities and USDA-ARS researchers.

SUNFLOWER PRODUCTION MEETING SCHEDULED

Texas A&M AgriLife and New Mexico State will host a sunflower program at Texline Community Center, 100 South 3rd Street, in Texline, TX, to discuss management, insects, hybrid trial results, and contracts. For further information, contact Dallam County agent Mike Bragg at (806) 244-4434 or mnbragg@ag.tamu.edu.

HIGH PLAINS WINTER CONFERENCES

Two long-running High Plains area conferences will be held in the next two weeks. No-Till on the Plains conference is this week, January 26- 27, in Salina, KS. This is the 20th anniversary of the conference. For more information, go to www.notill.org. The Colorado Conservation Tillage Association’s High Plains No-Till Conference in Burlington, CO is February 2-3. For details or to register, visit: www.highplainsnotill.com. The NSA’s High Plains committee will be at both shows, and will give away one iPad per show, so if you attend, make sure you visit the High Plains booth.

2016 SD PEST MANAGEMENT GUIDES NOW AVAILABLE

The South Dakota 2016 Pest Management guides are now available for free. The guides provide recommendations for controlling weeds, insects and diseases in several crops, including sunflower. The guides have been completely updated for 2016.There are several new products that have new names and corresponding changes made to the labels such as: rates for the chemicals, rotation restrictions, additive rates, and products. The guides can be found at www.iGrow.org and at SDSU Extension Regional Centers.

NSA GOLD AWARD

Every year the NSA presents the Gold Award to an individual who has contributed extra- ordinarily to the overall sunflower industry, either through their occupation or through the National Sunflower Association. This award is considered to be the highest award that the NSA presents to individuals. The award has been given every year since 1989. Past Gold Award winners include John McLean, Larry Kleingartner, Duane Berglund, Senator Mark Andrews, and Chuck Moses. Nominations are now being accepted for the 2016 NSA Gold Award. Visit www.sunflowernsa.com/all-about/gold-award/ for the eligibility and criteria requirements. Nominations must be received by February 19. The NSA board of directors will review all submitted applications and chose a winner. The Gold Award will be presented during the NSA Summer Seminar, set for June 28-30 in Bismarck, ND.

MONITOR MOISTURE OF BINNED SEEDS

If you’ve got some of last year’s sunflower crop stored in bins, make sure you keep an eye on the seed’s moisture level. The maximum recommended moisture content for stored sunflower is 9.5% through the winter months and 8% if the storage period is longer than about six months. It’s also important to check the sunflower weekly and make sure you check the sunflower, not the bin. Check by getting into the storage each time and walk, feel, smell, and probe the seeds. Remember, walking around in filled bins can be dangerous, so take extra precautions. For more storage tips, visit www.sunflowernsa.com/growers.

NSA ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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UPCOMING EVENTS

January 26-27, 2016 – No-Till on the Plains, Salina Kansas
January 29-30, 2016 – Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference, Manhattan, Kansas
February 2-3, 2016 – CCTA Conference, Burlington, Colorado
June 28-30, 2016 – 2016 NSA Summer Seminar, Bismarck, ND

MARKETS

Traders are monitoring U.S. export demand, South American weather, world farmer sales, and carryout levels. Macroeconomic events such as China economic reports, crude petro oil and the stock market are also affecting commodity prices. As a result oilseed prices have mainly been on the defensive to start the year. Traders fear that U.S. exports will likely be hampered by a strong U.S. dollar. This could lead to a building of already large domestic stockpiles as farmers prepare to plant another crop. From the looks of it, U.S. farmers are looking to increase soybean acres in 2016. Private estimates have this year’s crop in a range of 82.2 to 85.2 million acres of beans compared to 82.7 million in 2015. Unless there are production issues during the growing season this could lead to downward price pressure on new crop prices. Current weather in South America is conducive for crop production. February is the critical development month for oilseeds in South America so there is still time for a shift in production prospects. In general, the market will probably trade sideways until there is a something to break the current trading trend

Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, January 25, 2016 ($/CWT

	Deliver	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change	2016 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil	Nearby	31.08	30.03	30.44	+.41	30.91
Fargo, ND	NuSun	18.90	16.50	16.55	+.05	17.10
Enderlin, ND	NuSun	18.80	16.55	16.65	+.10	17.05
Goodland, KS	NuSun	19.55	16.15	16.30	+.15	15.70

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, January 25, 2016
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. location)

	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change
Soybean Oil	30.73	28.28	28.69	+.41
Cotton Oil (psby)	46.08	45.03	45.44	+.41
Corn Oil	35.50	40.50	41.50	+1.00