|
Nearby prices were unchanged at the crush plants last week. It’s the busiest time of year across the sunflower growing region as farmers finish up planting spring 2024 crops and begin crop protection activities over the next few weeks. Planting is nearing the finish line for sunflowers. As of June 23, 93% of expected 2024 sunflower acreage was in the ground, up from 84% from the week prior and ahead of the five-year average of 90%. On Friday, USDA will release its latest planted acres report. In the March intentions report producers indicated they planned to decrease oil acres by 31% with confection acres holding steady from last year. Traders are anxious to confirm if this change in acres occurred or is higher than USDA estimates. If the March numbers come about U.S. sunflower production is forecast to be 1.6 billion pounds, which would represent a decrease of 29 percent from last year. The lower production is based on a decrease in planted area from 1.32 million to 957,500 acres and trend yields for oil type and confection sunflowers. Oil type sunflower production is projected to decline to 1.4 billion pounds, down 30 percent from MY 2023/24. Look for demand news and position squaring ahead of USDA’s acreage report to guide the market this week. USDA’s acreage report will be the main driver in the market following its release.
|