Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Aug 27 2018

Crop Progress

Sunflowers in North Dakota are well ahead of average -- 67 percent of the state's crop is already in petals dry stage, well ahead of the average of 33 percent.

Crop Progress - Monday, August 27, 2018

State	This Week	Last Week	Last Year	5 Year Average
North Dakota
Blooming	100	98	---	---
Petals Dry	67	37	38	33
Bracts Yellow	34	7	---	---
Mature	4	---	---	---
Texas
Harvested	59	57	35	31

Crop Conditions - Monday, August 27, 2018

State	Very Poor	Poor	Fair	Good	Excellent
North Dakota	0	6	30	61	3
Minnesota	0	1	29	50	20
Colorado	1	4	26	64	5

USDA Provides Help with Blackbirds

As sunflowers ripen, blackbirds are beginning to appear and cause problems. The USDA can help; click here for a map with phone numbers for USDA Wildlife Services personnel that can help North Dakota producers who have blackbird problems. Some other ways to reduce damage include cattail management, cannons, harassment, desiccants, and repellants. They are even more effective when used together.

Grower Report

Mohall, North Dakota producer Jeff Oberholtzer says this year’s sunflower crop looks to be a good one. He says his 1,600 acres of high oleic sunflower are in the petal drop stage, which is ahead of normal. Oberholtzer says the area received about ¾” of rain last night, the first measurable rain in over a month. He says they sprayed about a third of their sunflower crop for seed weevil, mostly as a preventative measure.

Markets

The trade talks between the US and China fell flat last weekwith no breakthrough as more tariffs kicked in. Both sides have now officially imposed $50 billion in tariffs and the US is in the middle of open hearings regarding another $200 billion in tariffs being put into play at some point in September. Traders are concerned in how China might respond to Washington’s proposed next round of tariffs on a further $200 billion of Chinese imports. Many within the trade are thinking things could get much more intense during the next couple of weeks and without an US and China trade resolution could push prices lower. Lastweek’s Pro Farmer Tour did not find any problems with the US soybean crop and could give support to USDA’s record crop estimate. Pro Farmer estimated the US soybean yield near 53.0 bushels per acre vs USDA at 51.6. It seems as if wave after wave of bearish headlines are hitting the market right now. For the most part, sunflower prices have remained steady the past few weeks. Last week old and new crop prices were unchanged at the crush plants. In most areas the sunflower crop continues to develop 10 to 14 days ahead of the five-year average pace. This has led some producers thinking of desiccating their sunflowers to begin drydown for harvest.