Registration is now open for our 2026 NSA Summer Seminar, scheduled for June 23-25, 2026. This year’s Summer Seminar will be held in Deadwood, South Dakota. You can register on our website – go to 2026 NSA Summer Seminar You’ll find our schedule too, as well as hotel information and more. Pre-registration will begin at $375 and golf at $140, so register early for the best price. A block of rooms has been reserved at The Lodge under the “National Sunflower Association Conference." To reserve your room, call 605-584-4800.  The rate is $169.00 per night plus taxes for a King, Queen, King Accessible, or Queen Accessible or $199.00 per night plus taxes for a King Balcony or Queen Deluxe.  The block will expire on May 23, 2026, and regular rates will apply.  Contact Tina Mittelsteadt at tinam@sunflowernsa.com with questions.

In the past week, nearby sunflower prices were unchanged with new crop unchanged to up 10 cents at the crush plants. USDA recently released one of its most important World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) reports for the year. It gave the market the first look at global production, supply, and demand forecasts for the 2026/27 marketing year for several crops. Historically these are the fundamental figures that will largely dictate pricing for 2026 crops over the next year. Global sunflower production in 2026/27 is forecast to increase 13 percent from the previous year to 61.8 million metric tons (MMT). Increased production is estimated for the U.S., Argentina, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey as well as the European Union. Russia is expected to remain the world’s largest producer, followed by Ukraine and the European Union. Global ending sunflower seed stocks are expected to increase by 32 percent from the previous year. With the additional seed supply, global crush is expected to increase by 12 percent from 2025/26. Global sunflower oil consumption is projected to go up 13 percent, driven by the larger crush. Sunflower oil exports are also expected to increase by 16 percent, from last year. Ending global sunflower oil stocks are forecast to increase slightly from 2025/26 levels. Take these figures with a grain salt as they are the first estimate for the next marketing year. The majority of the sunflower crop is just being planted, and we are a long ways away from it being in the bin. A lot can happen in the months ahead.

During the next few weeks, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct two major inquiries, contacting producers from across the United States to determine crop acreage and stock levels as of June 1, 2026. Data for the June Agricultural Survey are gathered via the Internet, mail, or by phone interview. For the June Area Survey, trained National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) enumerators representing NASS visit select tracts of land to interview the operators of any farm or ranch within that selected tract. Producers are asked to provide information on planted acres, acres expected to be harvested, and grain stocks. NASS will publish the results in a series of USDA reports, including the Acreage and Grain Stocks reports, on June 30, 2026. These and all NASS reports are available online; visit www.nass.usda.gov/Publications to see the reports.

Have questions about growing sunflowers? You’ll find the answers to your questions on our website! Visit www.sunflowernsa.com and click on the “Growers” section – you will find answers to frequently asked questions there as well as links to more information about many important topics, including approved chemicals, production, marketing, crop insurance and more.

June 23-25, 2026 - NSA Summer Seminar; Deadwood, SD

NSA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Anyone requesting special accommodation should notify NSA within a reasonable timeframe. NSA will accommodate reasonable requests.