Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Aug 30 2021

Crop Progress - Monday, August 30, 2021

State	This Week	Last Week	Last Year	5 Year Average
North Dakota
Petals Dry	60	35	60	56
Bracts Yellow	24	14	26	25
Mature	5	1	3	3
Texas
Harvested	53	49	47	43

Crop Conditions - Monday, August 30, 2021

State	Timeframe	Very Poor	Poor	Fair	Good	Excellent
North Dakota	This week	8	33	39	19	1
	Last week	6	34	43	16	1
Minnesota	This week	9	15	41	34	1
	Last week	8	15	46	31	0
Colorado	This week	1	12	34	47	6
	Last week	1	10	38	46	5

Benefits of Desiccation

Now is a great time to start thinking about desiccating your sunflower crop. Getting the crop harvested several weeks early can result in higher yields and lower drying costs. Late season crop damage and blackbird damage can be reduced, and desiccation may also slow down head diseases such as Sclerotinia. Early dry down can also minimize artificial drying costs. September and the first half of October harvest can often allow the use of air-drying to lower seed moisture in storage. Visit Desiccant Considerations (sunflowernsa.com) to learn more about desiccation.

Grower Report

Brighton, Colorado producer Tom Kirkmeyer states that his moisture condition is terrible. He has only received a quarter of an inch of rain in the last month. He says it is as bad as it was last fall. The development of his confection sunflowers are spread out but most of them are at the tail end of blooming and some have started to drop petals.

Markets

Another good week for sunflower prices as the nearby price moved close to $32.00 at ND crush plants and 2022 new crop contracts continue to roll out earlier than normal. Nearby prices were up 60 cents to $1.60 per cwt. with the October contract gaining 60 cents to $1.80 in the past week. The Cargill West Fargo crush plant is offering 2022 new crop cash and Act of God (AOG) contracts. NuSun cash is $26.80 and $26.30 AOG. High oleics are $27.20 cash and $26.70 AOG. Something else to consider is the oil premiums that crush plants pay on sunflower. Sunflower is the only oilseed that pays premiums for oil content above 40%. Considering oil premiums that are offered at the crush plants on oil content above 40% at a rate of 2% price premium for each 1% of oil above 40%; this pushes a contract with 45% oil content gross return 10% higher per cwt. The AOG $26.30 contract increases to $29.00, and the cash $27.20 contract moves up to $30.00. Nearby birdfood bids are trading mostly around $30.00 in South Dakota with North Dakota prices trading for as much as $29.00-$30.85 in some locations. The sunflower crop in the Dakotas and Minnesota continues to progress at a faster pace than average due to ongoing drought conditions. Some of the crop could be desiccated in early September for harvest. USDA is rating a large portion of this year’s crop in very poor to poor condition with most of it in only fair condition.

USDA Provides Help with Blackbirds

Sunflowers are blooming and it is never too early to think about blackbird control. Local birds cause a large amount of damage as petals begin to dry and drop (R6 stage). Be proactive early on to minimize seed loss, do not wait for the buildup of large flocks. For a map with phone numbers for those USDA Wildlife Services personnel that can help North Dakota producers who have blackbird problems, visit NORTH DAKOTA (sunflowernsa.com) Some other ways to reduce damage include cattail management, cannons, harassment, desiccants, and repellants. These tools are even more effective when used together. For more on blackbirds, visit Blackbirds (sunflowernsa.com)

EPA Ends Chlorpyrifos Use on Food Crops

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revoked all tolerances and filed their intent to cancel all registrations for food use of chlorpyrifos. Chlorpyrifos is in common products such as Lorsban, Dursban, Cobalt and many others. According to EPA’s decision, growers must discontinue use of chlorpyrifos on registered food crops within 6 months. Producers should consult with their local agronomists or chemical representatives to assess all available alternatives to use instead of chlorpyrifos in the future.

Upcoming Events

January 12-13, 2022 - NSA Research Forum; Holiday Inn, Fargo, ND
June 28-30, 2022 - NSA Summer Seminar; Grand Forks, ND

Markets at a Glance

Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, August 30, 2021 ($/CWT)

	Deliver	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change	2022 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil	Nearby	32.96	59.25	60.28	+1.03	56.27
West Fargo, ND	NuSun	16.60	30.10	31.70	+1.60	26.80
West Fargo, ND	High Oleic	16.80	30.30	31.70	+1.40	27.20
Enderlin, ND	NuSun	16.65	31.10	31.70	+.60	27.00
Enderlin, ND	High Oleic	16.85	31.10	31.70	+.60	27.25
Lamar, CO	High Oleic	NA	29.00	29.75	+.75	NQ

U.S. CRUDE OIL VALUES recorded on Monday, August 30, 2021
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. location)

	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change
Soybean Oil	33.21	82.49	85.28	+2.79
Cotton Oil (psby)	47.96	95.49	98.28	+2.79
Corn Oil	68.00	84.00	84.00	unch

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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