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Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Aug 19 2019

Crop Progress

Harvest continues in Texas, where 42% of the crop is reported harvested. And in Minnesota, 80% of the crop is reported in good to excellent condition.

Crop Progress - Monday, August 19, 2019 State This Week Last Week Last Year 5 Year Average North Dakota         Blooming 83 63 97 --- Petals Dry 10 --- 33 --- Texas         Harvested 42 39 57 35

Crop Conditions - Monday, August 19, 2019 State Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent North Dakota 1 2 18 73 6 Colorado 0 0 18 69 13 Minnesota 0 1 19 66 14

Grower Report

Lemmon, SD grower Lance Hourigan says despite some recent stormy weather,  his 2,500 acres of oil sunflowers are looking good. At about 90% blooming, he just finished spraying for seed weevil.

Keep Scouting for Insects

Producers should continue to scout for insects, including sunflower moth, banded/Arthur’s sunflower moth and red sunflower seed weevil. According to the ND IPM survey, sunflowers were in the R3 to R5.6 crop stages in North Dakota. Insect trapping for sunflower moth indicates that high numbers of moths migrated into ND during the last two weeks, just in time for female moths to lay eggs on the face of the sunflower. High trap catches are present in the central and north central areas of North Dakota. Banded sunflower moth trap catches peaked last week in most areas of ND with the highest trap catch at Renville County followed by Cass and Cavalier Counties. Trap catches for Arthuri sunflower moths are high in the northern tier of ND but are usually lower numbers than the banded sunflower moth. Economic population of red sunflower seed weevils are being observed in the earliest blooming sunflower fields, especially in field edges. The 1⁄8-inch-long reddish-orange weevils are especially abundant in the north central area of North Dakota. Continue to scout fields for insects until sunflowers reach R5.8 to R6. Click here for more on insects.

USDA Provides Help with Blackbirds

USDA Wildlife Services has hired five additional specialists to help North Dakota producers with blackbirds. They start their work today. Click here for a map with phone numbers for those USDA Wildlife Services personnel. As petals begin to drop, blackbirds will soon appear and cause problems. The USDA can help. Some other ways to reduce damage include cattail management, cannons, harassment, desiccants and repellants. These tools are even more effective when used together. For more on blackbirds, click here.

Monitor for Sunflower Rust

This time of year, it is important to keep an eye out for sunflower rust. Confection sunflower tend to be more susceptible to rust than oilseeds, however there are distinct resistant differences among hybrids; some are resistant, and some are susceptible. If rust is found on the top of the canopy (the top four fully-expanded sunflower leaves) at 1% severity or higher in R5 (bloom) a fungicide application may be warranted. By R6 (flowering is complete) research trials have shown no benefit to a fungicide application. For more on sunflower rust, click here.

Upcoming Events

January 8-9, 2020 NSA Research Forum Holiday Inn, Fargo, ND

Markets

For the third week in a row old crop NuSun and high oleic prices established new market highs at the North Dakota crush plants. Old crop prices added another 5 to 20 cents in the last week. Since the beginning of August old crop prices have gained 70 cents per cwt. New crop prices for NuSun and high oleic also set market highs this week. In most areas the crop continues to develop behind the five-year average pace. In states reporting crop conditions, the crop is being rated at 79 to 82 percent good to excellent condition. This should mean that yields will be above trend assuming normal weather through the rest of this fall and the lack of an early freeze. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) came out with their September-November forecast and it is for above normal temperatures in the Northern Plains. Hopefully this plays out as the crop will need more growing degree days (GDD) later in the season than normal to finish development. USDA Farm Service Agency released its initial reported acres figures this week for all crops. Oil-type sunflower planted acreage was pegged at 1.16 million acres with confection acres at 145,000. The figures were within the average trade estimates. USDA will update the acreage report in mid-September. USDA will provide their initial yield and production estimates for the 2019 oil-type and confection sunflower crop in October.

Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, August 19, 2019 ($/CWT)   Deliver Last Year Last Week This Week Change 2019 NEW Crop Chicago Oil Nearby 28.54 29.64 28.68 -.96 29.04 Fargo, ND NuSun 17.30 18.50 18.55 +.05 17.40 Fargo, ND High Oleic 17.35 18.50 18.70 +.20 17.60 Enderlin, ND NuSun 17.40 18.35 18.45 +.10 17.35 Enderlin, ND High Oleic 17.40 18.55 18.65 +.10 17.55 Goodland, KS NuSun 16.35 16.45 16.45 NC 16.60 Goodland, KS High Oleic 17.35 17.55 17.55 NC 17.85 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, August 19, 2109 (dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. location)   Last Year Last Week This Week Change Soybean Oil 27.54 29.16 28.68 -.48 Cotton Oil (psby) 27.54 38.64 37.68 -.96 Corn Oil 32.00 29.00 29.00 NC