Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Feb 04 2019

USDA Annual Crop Production Report Scheduled for Release

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) Agricultural Statistics Board has begun rescheduling reports that were affected by the lapse in federal funding. During the lapse, NASS was not able to collect data nor issue reports. This includes the annual Crop Production report. It was originally scheduled for January 11. It will now be released February 8 at noon Eastern time. You can find the USDA report on sunflower crop production on our website once it is released. For a list of all rescheduled USDA reports, click here.

Agricultural Tile Drainage Design Workshop Scheduled

North Dakota State University Extension’s annual Tile Drainage Workshop will take place February 26 in the meeting room of the Ramsey County Courthouse in Devils Lake, ND. The design workshop is intended for those interested in a more complete understanding of the planning and design principles and practices for drainage, sub irrigation and water table management. The workshop will focus on the planning and design of agricultural tile drainage systems, including water management structures and life stations – to meet profitability and environmental objectives. The course content is taught in modules with emphasis on hands-on learning and time for discussions. The early registration fee is $50, which includes materials and lunch. The registration deadline is February 24. workshop is limited to 50 participants. To register for the workshop, click here.

NSA Scholarship Available

The National Sunflower Association is seeking applicants for the Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship. In tribute to the dedicated work of Curtis Stern, an industry advocate and former NSA board member, the NSA Board of Directors established a memorial scholarship in his name. Funds assist students who study in the field of agriculture with a special emphasis on sunflower production, promotion, or research. Preference will be given to students who are in their last two years of undergraduate studies or in graduate level studies and have maintained at least a cumulative 3.0 GPA on a 4.0=A scale. Application deadline is April 1, 2019. A total of $3,500 is available for the scholarship this year. Applications can be submitted online. Click here to learn more. Contact Tina Mittelsteadt at tinam@sunflowernsa.com with any questions.

2019 NSA Gold Award Nominations Being Accepted

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2019 NSA Gold Award. Click here for the eligibility and criteria requirements. Nominations must be received by February 15, 2019. The NSA Board of Directors will review all submitted applications and choose a winner. The Gold Award will be presented during this year’s NSA Summer Seminar, set for June 25-27 in Medora, ND.

Upcoming Events

February 5-6, 2019: CCTA Conference, Burlington, CO
March 19, 2019: NSA High Plains Committee Meeting, Goodland, KS
June 25-27, 2019: NSA Summer Seminar, Medora, ND

Markets

After the US-China trade talks last week President Trump announced that China would be making another 5 MMT purchase of US soybeans in coming weeks. Unfortunately, the issues of intellectual property theft and technology transfer were not addressed. CBoT traders were happy with the sales announcement but stated that until those points are addressed, the trade war will drag on. Nearby sunflower prices ended the week unchanged to up 5 cents. 2019 new crop prices for NuSun and high oleic sunflower were unchanged to up 30 cents. The birdfood market remains rather quiet and prices were unchanged as well. On February 1, the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) began the discovery process in determining 2019 crop insurance price elections for sunflower. Producers have the option of choosing Yield Protection, Revenue Protection, and Revenue Protection with the Harvest Price Exclusion. All three policies have the same price election. To follow the direction for sunflower price elections, watch the 2019 CBoT December soyoil contract during the month of February. Final price elections will be announced in early March. Traders are receiving USDA data once again, but its usefulness is somewhat limited until data sets get current which will take until the end of the month. US export demand and South American weather will be the main market movers in the near term.

Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, February 4, 2019 ($/CWT)

	Deliver	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change	2019 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil	Nearby	32.50	30.30	30.13	-.17	31.26
Fargo, ND	NuSun	17.45	16.85	16.90	+.05	17.25
Fargo, ND	High Oleic	17.35	17.00	17.00	NC	NQ
Enderlin, ND	NuSun	17.15	16.60	16.65	+.05	16.90
Enderlin, ND	High Oleic	17.15	17.25	17.25	NC	17.50
Goodland, KS	NuSun	16.70	16.55	16.55	NC	16.75
Goodland, KS	High Oleic	17.70	17.65	17.65	NC	18.00

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, February 4, 2109
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. location)

	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change
Soybean Oil	30.70	29.50	29.33	-.17
Cotton Oil (psby)	30.50	36.30	36.13	-.17
Corn Oil	35.00	30.00	30.00	NC