Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Mar 06 2023

Sunflower Production Update set for March 21

Sunflower producers and crop advisers interested in sunflower production management updates should plan to participate in the Zoom conference ‘2023 Getting-it-Right in Sunflower Production’ on Tuesday, March 21 from 8:30 a.m. to noon CST. The program will be conducted by North Dakota State University Extension and is supported by NSA. Topics that will be covered range from hybrid selection, what has been learned from the fall sunflower surveys, plant nutrient and soil management, updates for weed, disease and insect management, combine fire prevention and sunflower marketing. Attendees will receive a list of several pertinent extension sunflower production resources as reference materials and are supplemental to the presentations. The presentations will be recorded and archived.

Certified crop adviser continuing education credits will be available for meeting participants. Pre-registration is required at:
https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/ag-hub/getting-it-right. This site also has video links to the previous sunflower production meeting. All who preregister will receive emailed instructions on how to participate in the meeting. The program is free of charge.

NSA Team Going to Washington DC

National Sunflower Association Board members from five different states will travel to Washington, DC, March 5-8. The team includes Tom Kirkmeyer (Brighton, CO), Clark Coleman (Bismarck, ND), Cameron Peirce (Hutchinson, KS), Tom Dowdle (Kennedy, MN), and Lance Hourigan (Lemmon, SD). NSA Executive Director John Sandbakken will also make the trip. The group will visit with members of Congress about the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill and Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations. In addition, the group will meet with officials from the USDA APHIS/Wildlife Services to discuss blackbird depredation concerns and USDA Agricultural Research Service regarding research needs.

Markets

Nearby prices were unchanged to up 75 cents with new crop unchanged this week at the crush plants. RMA has announced crop insurance prices for spring crops. Oil-type sunflowers are at $30.50 with confection sunflowers at $32.60. Crop insurance prices were set at $5.91 for corn, $13.76 for soybeans and $8.87 for spring wheat. Traders are anxiously awaiting USDA’s release of its Prospective Plantings Report on March 31. Until the report is out South American weather and crop production estimates along with the acreage debate should dominate the direction the market takes. In addition, all eyes will be on the ongoing talks to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Ukraine sent an appeal to the United Nations and Turkey urging the entities to begin negotiations to extend the deal that allows safe passage of shipping vessels through the Black Sea, which is otherwise set to expire on March 18. Ukraine is among the world’s top exporters of corn, wheat, barley, sunflower seed, sunflower oil, and meal. U.S. and Russian officials reportedly sparred at the Group of 20 meeting in India, each accusing the other of working against extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Still, most officials are optimistic that the initiative, which was originally brokered in July and renewed in November, will again be prolonged in the near future. If it is not renewed, markets will definitely take a bullish turn as buyers scramble to cover nearby needs.

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