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Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Jul 23 2018

Crop Progress

North Dakota's sunflower fields are beginning to bloom - 28 percent of the crop is reported blooming Meanwhile, 87% of the state's sunflower are reported in good to excellent condition.

Crop Progress - Monday, July 23, 2018  State This Week Last Week Last Year 5 Year Average North Dakota         Blooming 28 14 14 11 Kansas         Planted 100 96 NA NA Texas         Harvested 44 42 NA NA

Crop Conditions - Monday, July 23, 2018  State Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent North Dakota 1 1 11 79 8 Minnesota 0 0 26 50 24 Colorado 2 5 30 62 1

Start Scouting for Banded Sunflower Moth and Red Sunflower Weevil

As sunflower fields begin to bloom, adults of red sunflower seed weevil (RSSW) will be emerging and will fly to the nearest flowering sunflowers. RSSW are small (2.5 to 3.1 mm long) with a snout and are reddish-orange. Banded sunflower moth can be identified by their small size (1/4- inch-long) and forewings with a triangular, dark brown band across the middle of the wing. Once the decision to treat has been made, it is critical to time the spray application correctly to get effective management of all sunflower head insects including RSSW, BSM, sunflower moth, and Lygus bug. The best sunflower plant stage to treat is when the majority of plants are in the R5.1 growth stage. Click here to read more about scouting for insects and the best treatments. Click here to see the insecticides registered in sunflower.

Tim Bratland Appointed President of Legend Seeds

Legend Seeds has promoted Tim Bratland to president, effective August 1, 2018. Bratland’s appointment is part of an executive transition that includes prior president, Glen Davis, moving into the role of CEO. Bratland has been involved with Legend Seeds since its beginnings in 1990 when he started cleaning seed for Legend’s owners, Glen and Janet Davis. In 2002, he joined the Legend Seeds family and began working with their production division. Since then, Bratland has held several leadership roles within the organization, most recently serving as general manager. This appointment marks the second presidential appointment in Legend Seeds history, formerly held by Glen Davis. Bratland currently serves as the 2018 Independent Professional Seed Association (IPSA) president which represents the unique needs of independent seed companies and promotes the interests and capabilities of regional seed companies.

Consider Cattail Control

July to mid-August is a good time to remove blackbird roosting locations, such as marshes, sloughs, and cattails. Cattails serve as blackbird habitat so it’s in the sunflower producer’s best interest to cut them down or spray herbicides to get rid of them as much as possible. For more information on using herbicides, click here.

Upcoming Events

January 9-10, 2019 – NSA Research Forum, Holiday Inn, Fargo, ND

Markets

Planting of the 2018 sunflower crop is complete and, in most cases, ahead of the five-year average in development. In states reporting crop conditions, the crop is being rated at 70 to 87 percent good to excellent condition. Last year at this same time very little of the crop was rated as good to excellent due to severe drought conditions impacting the Dakotas. Above trend yields are expected if current crop conditions continue. Sunflower prices have held up quite well given all the market turmoil. Old crop finished unchanged to up 5 cents last week. New crop prices were down 5 cents to unchanged. The sunflower market is reflecting supply and demand fundamentals for this time of year. CBoT traders continue to be influenced by US-China trade war headlines and prospects for a large 2018 US soybean crop. This month’s USDA supply and demand report was viewed as bearish by the trade. USDA increased 2018 soybean production to 4.3 billion bushels making a big crop a little bigger. For the first time USDA incorporated the impact of Chinese soybean import duties into their estimates, which drove exports down 250 million bushels, and boosted domestic soybean ending stocks to 580 million bushels, up from 385 million bushels in June. In the week ahead, sunflower trading will be influenced by crop conditions and progress along with weather conditions.

Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, July 23, 2018 ($/CWT)   Deliver Last Year Last Week This Week Change 2018 NEW Crop Chicago Oil Nearby 33.61 27.64 27.97 +.33 28.32 Fargo, ND NuSun 17.50 17.60 17.65 +.05 17.55 Fargo, ND High Oleic NQ 17.60 17.65 +.05 17.60 Enderlin, ND NuSun 17.55 17.65 17.65 NC 17.40 Enderlin, ND High Oleic NQ 17.65 17.65 NC 17.40 Goodland, KS NuSun NQ 16.35 16.35 NC 16.70 Goodland, KS High Oleic NQ 17.35 17.35 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, July 23, 2018  (dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. location)   Last Year Last Week This Week Change Soybean Oil 32.11 25.89 26.22 +.33 Cotton Oil (psby) 36.61 26.64 26.97 +.33 Corn Oil 41.50 34.00 32.00 -2.00