Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Apr 24 2023

NSA Website Provides Helpful Information for Producers

Have questions about growing sunflowers? You’ll find the answers to your questions on our website! Visit www.sunflowernsa.com and click on the “Growers” section – you will find answers to frequently asked questions there as well as links to more information about many important topics, including approved chemicals, production, marketing, crop insurance, and more.

Reducing Blackbird Damage

As producers gear up for planting, now is a good time to think about blackbirds and reducing the damage they could cause to this year’s sunflower crop. USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services recommends not planting sunflower in close proximity to large cattail sloughs (blackbird roosts) if at all possible. If you do plant close to cattails, consider spraying cattails with glyphosate in accordance with the label, or mowing cattails if possible. Something else to consider is developing roads or trails in larger fields (quarter or more) to allow access to the middle of fields. Birds always go to the center of the field where you can’t reach them. Trails or roads allow you many more locations and better accessibility to move blackbirds out of the field and reduce losses. You can find more tips to reduce blackbird damage on our website: www.sunflowernsa.com/growers/black-birds/.

Planting Seed Still Available

The NSA office has received calls from growers looking for hybrid planting seed for this growing season. Seed supplies are still available and there is still time to place an order to put in some acres this growing season. Hybrid seed suppliers can be found using this link: Buyers and Sellers (sunflowernsa.com) Spread out market risk with some sunflower acres in your rotation this year.

Markets

Nearby and new crop prices were unchanged this week at the crush plants. Significant winter storms have dumped heavy snow in and around the Northern Plains impacting the 2023 growing season. Colder than normal temperatures are expected through the end of April and will be unfavorable for any fieldwork or planting for at least two weeks as snowmelt will be a slow process. Depending on how long the snow lasts and fields dry up enough to begin planting the optimal planting window for some earlier planted crops could be hampered and lead to below normal yields. There is still time for producers to adjust their plans for this growing season to take advantage of the market opportunities that sunflowers can offer. Late season planted crops like sunflower can perform well and markets are currently in position to reward that production for delivery this fall. The USDA planting intentions report showed planting of sunflower acres much lower than expected by the trade. With lower than anticipated acres, diversifying market risk with some sunflower acres would be a good option in 2023. If you are concerned about the weather impacting yields, plants are still offering Act of God (AOG) contracts for fall delivery. These ‘fail safe’ contracts have become very popular with farmers throughout the production region. It provides an opportunity to ‘lock in’ attractive prices now for fall delivery and removes that all important factor of ‘yield risk’ when uncertain growing conditions exist like this year.

Sunflower Oil Exports Decrease

U.S. sunflower oil exports in the first five months of the marketing year stand at 12,452 metric tons (MT) a decrease of 7,269 MT from the same time a year ago. Decreased sales to Canada and Mexico are the leading factors to the drop in exports. Canada remains the top importer of U.S. sunflower oil. From October 2022 to February 2023, Canada imported 7,896 MT of sunflower oil, compared to 13,348 MT from October 2021 to February 2022 representing a 41% decrease for the same time period. Mexico has imported 1,175 MT of sunflower oil so far this marketing year, which is down from 3,654 MT from the same time frame a year ago.

Registration is now open for our 2023 NSA Summer Seminar, scheduled for June 27-29, 2023. This year’s Summer Seminar will be held in Spearfish, South Dakota. You can register on our website – go to 2023 NSA Summer Seminar (sunflowernsa.com). You’ll find our tentative schedule too, as well as hotel information and more. Pre-registration will begin at $325 and golf at $130, so register early for the best price. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Spearfish Holiday Inn and Conference Center. To reserve your room, call 605-642-4683 or Hotel in Spearfish | Holiday Inn Spearfish-Convention Center Hotel (ihg.com) using the group code NSA. The rate is $129.99 per night plus taxes for Standard Rooms and $159.99 per night plus taxes for Suites. The block of rooms will expire on May 27, 2023. The program is being finalized and more information will be coming soon. Contact Tina Mittelsteadt at tinam@sunflowernsa.com with questions.

Upcoming Events

June 27-29, 2023 - NSA Summer Seminar; Spearfish, SD

Markets at a Glance

Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, April 24, 2023 ($/CWT)

	Deliver	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change	2023 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil	Nearby	82.74	54.57	52.56	-2.01	51.33
West Fargo, ND	NuSun	38.25	21.50	21.50	NC	23.30
West Fargo, ND	High Oleic	38.75	22.00	22.00	NC	24.80
Enderlin, ND	NuSun	38.20	21.50	21.50	NC	23.95
Enderlin, ND	High Oleic	38.70	22.00	22.00	NC	25.15
Lamar, CO	High Oleic	38.70	23.25	23.25	NC	25.25

U.S. CRUDE OIL VALUES recorded on Monday, April 24, 2023
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. locations)

	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change
Soybean Oil	92.74	59.07	57.06	-2.01
Cotton Oil (pbsy)	112.74	99.57	97.56	-2.01
Corn Oil	152.00	75.00	75.00	NC

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.

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