Sunflower Highlights

ND Oilseed Council Election Results
North Dakota sunflower producers Clark Coleman and Myron Dieterle have been reelected to the ND Oilseed Council. Coleman will also continue to serve as First Vice President of the NSA Board of Directors. This is Coleman’s third, three-year term representing District 4, which includes the North Dakota counties of Kidder, McIntosh, Burleigh, Stutsman, Emmons and Logan. Dieterle, of Kief, ND, was elected to his second, three-year term representing District 5, which includes the North Dakota counties of Towner, Foster, Benson, Sheridan, Pierce, Wells, Rolette, and Eddy. Dieterle will also serve as on the NSA Board of Directors.

Planter Considerations
As sunflower planting approaches for the major production region, it’s important to take a close look at planter condition and settings. Achieving the perfect plant stand is one of the most critical challenges for growers each year. The NSA website offers a series of tutorial videos featuring John Smith, Agricultural Engineer with the University of Nebraska at Scottsbluff. Smith conducted seed placement tests on oil sunflower and large seeded confections using a variety of metering and planter types. Click here to view his observations and recommendations for calibration and adjustments to achieve excellent plant spacing.

Pest Management App Available
Tired of carrying around those thick pest management guides? Download the NDSU Pest Management app—it includes everything that is printed in pest management guides, plus more. For example, the app has full color photos of weeds, insects, and diseases. The app is available for both Apple and Android devices—just search NDSU Pest Management. The app is free, thanks to funding from several commodity groups, including the National Sunflower Association. Producers who use the app are encouraged to send comments and feedback to ndsu.pest.management@ndsu.edu. 

Register Now for the 2018 NSA Summer Seminar
Registration is now open for our 2018 NSA Summer Seminar, scheduled for June 26-28, 2018. This year’s Summer Seminar will be held at the Arrowwood Resort in Alexandria, Minnesota. Click here to register on our website. You’ll find our tentative schedule there too, as well as hotel information and more. A block of rooms has been reserved there for June 25-28. There’s a link on our website under “Hotel Information” to make your reservation. The room block will be released May 25, 2018 but may fill up much faster so don’t wait! The program is being finalized now and more information will be coming soon. Check the NSA website for further updates. Contact Tina Mittelsteadt at tinam@sunflowernsa.com with any questions.

Syngenta Scholarship Available
Syngenta invites eligible university students to apply for its annual Syngenta Agriculture Scholarship program. Applicants must write an essay about how you represent the future of agriculture and the branches that will one day bear its fruit. University students currently pursuing bachelor’s or master’s degrees in crop-related disciplines are eligible to compete for $20,000 in scholarship awards. Applicants must be U.S. residents enrolled and in good standing as of spring 2018 in an accredited agriculture program at a U.S. land-grant university. Scholarship deadline is May 25, 2018. Click here for additional information about the scholarship, including official rules, prize amounts, essay topics, and application guidelines.

Upcoming Events
June 26-28, 2018 – NSA Summer Seminar, Arrowwood Resort, Alexandria, MN

Markets
Last week USDA released its March 1 stocks and US 2018 planted acres by crop reports. USDA predicted far fewer acres of corn and soybeans will be planted this year than industry analysts had estimated. Some private estimates had 2018 soybean acres in a range of 90-92 million acres. USDA pegged planted acres at 89 million surprising everyone. Most traders think it is doubtful soybean acres will end up this low given previous surveys and seed sales to date. Sunflower growers intend to plant 1.39 million acres in 2018, down 1 percent from 2017. Area intended for oil type varieties, at 1.24 million acres, is up 2 percent from 2017. Area intended for non-oil varieties, estimated at 150,000 acres, is down 20 percent from last year. These figures can change based on planting and market conditions in the coming weeks. This is just a first look at this year’s potential sunflower acres. USDA will issue a follow up report on June 29 with actual planted acreage figures. According to the stocks report, all sunflower stocks stored in all positions totaled 1.24 billion pounds, down 8 percent from 2017. Oil sunflower stocks are 1.05 billion pounds, down 2 percent from last year. Non-oil sunflower stocks of 191.0 million pounds, are down 33 percent from a year ago. Trading for the next few weeks will be driven by the reports released last week as each crop competes for 2018 acres.