Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: May 06 2024

2024 Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship winners announced

Emily DeValk graduated with a BS in Biological Sciences from North Dakota State University (NDSU) in the spring of 2023. During her undergrad, she was an intern in the Hulke Lab and worked on a project to mathematically estimate the head inclination angle of sunflower. She began pursuing a master’s in plant sciences at NDSU starting in the fall of 2023. Her thesis involves high throughput phenotyping and working with ground robots to determine stand count and height of sunflower at important growth stages.

Srushtideep Angidi, is a Ph.D. student in Plant Pathology at NDSU, working under the guidance of Dr. William Underwood at the Sunflower Research Unit USDA-ARS Fargo ND. He graduated from Banaras Hindu University, India, majoring in agriculture and has a M.S. in Phytopathology from NDSU. Currently, his research focuses on Sclerotinia basal stalk rot.

Markets

In the past month nearby sunflower prices at the crush plants have gotten some upward traction from market lows. At the same time, CBoT soybean oil futures have faced headwinds with falling crude petroleum oil prices and slack demand from biofuel manufacturers. The most recent Biofuels Production and Capacity report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) provided bearish news to traders. Biodiesel capacity dropped 4% lower on the month to 1.984 billion gallons per year in February. During that time, renewable diesel capacity was unchanged from the prior month at 3.857 billion gallons. Vegetable oil use trended lower for biofuel feedstocks in February 2024. Soybean oil feedstocks used at bio-based renewable diesel plants shrunk 7% from the previous month, with canola oil and corn oil consumption dipping 21% and 6% lower, respectively, on the month. Tallow from beef and white grease feedstocks trended 13% and 21% higher, respectively, than the prior month. This data shows a trend that has been taking place over the past few months. In the renewable diesel sector, waste oils, fats, and greases are increasingly taking market share of total feedstocks used for bio-based diesel production, as vegetable oils market share shrinks. This trend bears watching as it could have implications for vegetable oil prices if it continues to develop.

Registration is now open for our 2024 NSA Summer Seminar, scheduled for June 25-27, 2024. This year’s Summer Seminar will be held in Duluth, Minnesota. You can register on our website – go to 2024 NSA Summer Seminar (sunflowernsa.com) You’ll find our tentative schedule too, as well as hotel information and more. Pre-registration will begin at $375 and golf at $130, so register early for the best price. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Radisson Duluth Harborview. To reserve your room, call 218-481-1185 Ext. 2 using the group code G9653258. The rate is $151.00 per night plus taxes. The block of rooms will expire on May 24, 2024. The program is being finalized and more information will be coming soon. Contact Tina Mittelsteadt at tinam@sunflowernsa.com with questions.

Sunflower aids in dealing with salinity

If you are dealing with fields that have areas of high saline content, planting sunflower can help turn those areas around. Sunflower is a saline-tolerant crop, meaning if it is planted in a field with a large seep, sunflower would do better than other crops. Its deep root system helps the soil structure. Those deep roots help get the water out of the soil at a deeper level and remove saline areas in the field. Producers should check with their seed dealers and find out which varieties are the most salt tolerant and appropriate for their growing area. For more information, visit Article Archives (sunflowernsa.com)

Upcoming Events

June 25-27, 2024 - NSA Summer Seminar; Duluth, MN

Markets at a Glance

Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, May 6, 2024 ($/CWT)

	Deliver	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change	2024 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil	Nearby	53.34	43.69	43.17	-.52	44.59
West Fargo, ND	NuSun	20.75	NQ	NQ	NC	NQ
West Fargo, ND	High Oleic	21.25	13.75	13.75	NC	19.00
Enderlin, ND	NuSun	21.10	14.50	14.50	NC	NQ
Enderlin, ND	High Oleic	21.60	15.00	15.00	NC	19.00
Lamar, CO	High Oleic	23.25	16.00	16.00	NC	20.00

U.S. CRUDE OIL VALUES recorded on Monday, May 6, 2024
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. locations)

	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change
Soybean Oil	57.84	46.69	46.84	+.15
Cotton Oil (pbsy)	98.34	68.69	68.84	+.15
Corn Oil	73.00	57.00	57.00	NC

Prices recorded here are believed to be reliable at the time of posting. Individual companies have the right to correct any errors that may occur. Contact these facilities for complete market details.

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