The new crop sunflower market followed a wide range of other commodities, including corn, wheat, and soybeans lower after a round of technical selling on the CBoT last week. At the North Dakota crush plants new crop prices shed $1.70 to $3.25. Lamar plant was unchanged. On the brightside nearby prices gained 50 cents to $1.75 per cwt. On Thursday, USDA will release its latest planted acres report. In the March intentions report producers indicated they planned to increase oil acres by 8% with confection acres up 29% from last year. Traders are anxious to confirm if this increase in acres occurred or is higher than USDA estimates. Some in the trade think oil sunflower acres will be up by 20% or more given attractive new crop prices and later planting season experienced this spring. It’s the busiest time of year across the sunflower growing region as farmers finish up planting spring 2022 crops and begin crop protection activities over the next few weeks Planting is nearing the finish line for sunflowers. As of June 26, 93% of expected 2022 sunflower acreage was in the ground, up from 81% from the week prior and equal to the five-year average of 93%. Heat will start to develop as we begin summer, hastening crop development where it has been a bit behind. With good soil moisture in the Northern Plains, the higher temperatures will be welcome.
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