Sunflower Highlights
Post Date: Apr 04 2022
Minnesota Sunflower Council elects board member
Greg Hilgeman has been re-elected to the Minnesota Sunflower Council. Hilgeman farms near Oklee, Minnesota. He grows oil sunflower as well as spring wheat, barley, oats, corn, grass seed and is a beef cattle producer. Hilgeman will represent Region 1 on the Minnesota Sunflower Council.
Production Resource Books available on NSA website
As you plan for spring planting, there is helpful information on our website for producers. Visit Production Resource Books (sunflowernsa.com) in the Growers section of our website; check out the Sunflower Production Resource Book for your area. The books provide guidelines and recommendations on production practices, pest identification, field selection 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. Visit www.sunflowernsa.com/growers/black-birds/  for more tips to reduce blackbird damage.
Markets
USDA released its first estimate of 2022 planted acres. Sunflower growers intend to plant 1.42 million acres in 2022, up 10 percent from 2021. Compared with last year, growers in five of the eight major sunflower producing states expect an increase in sunflower acreage this year. Area intended for oil type varieties, at 1.27 million acres, is up 8 percent from 2021. Prices surged after the planting intentions report showed growers planting much lower acres than expected by the trade. Old crop gained 50 to 60 cents with new crop adding 70 to 95 cents at the ND crush plants. Area intended for non-oil varieties, estimated at 142,000 acres, is up 29 percent from last year. Soybean planted area for all purposes in 2022 is estimated at 91.0 million acres, up 4 percent or 3.8 million acres from last year. The trade’s expectation was 88.8 million. Corn planted area for 2022 is estimated at 89.5 million acres, down 4 percent from last year. Spring wheat acreage is expected to be trimmed to 11.2 million acres, down slightly from last year, with durum increasing 19% from last year to 1.9 million acres. The March acreage and grain stocks reports will guide the market as we head into the planting season. It will also give farmers a look at what others are thinking of planting this year and may adjust their plans. A lot can change in the next several weeks, and final acreage could be far different.
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