Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: May 08 2023

2023 Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship winner announced

Ashley Barstow’s passion for developing resilient and high-yielding crops that can withstand future climate change and meet the demands of a growing population led her to pursue a master’s in plant sciences with a focus on plant breeding and genetics at North Dakota State University. She is a Graduate Research Assistant in the Sunflower Genetics Lab under Brent Hulke. While working in the Hulke Lab, the goal of her thesis is to develop a coreset of molecular genetic markers and identify haplotypes within the sunflower species, Helianthus annuus, to be used in the breeding program for future genomic selection efforts.

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 www.sunflowernsa.com/magazine/articles/default.aspx?ArticleID=3708

Markets

This week old crop sunflower prices at the ND crush plants were down 25 to 40 cents with new crop down 30 to 50 cents. Old and new crop prices were unchanged at the Lamar, CO plant. Traders are keeping an eye on scheduled talks between Ukraine, Russia and Turkey as officials try to hammer out an extension to the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) that's keeping agricultural products flowing out of Ukraine. Russia wants the West to remove banking sanctions in exchange for maintaining the BSGI to free up its revenues from fertilizer and grain shipments. The agreement will expire on May 18 and has led to market volatility in recent trading. For 2023/24, global sunflower production is going to be a moving target depending on what actually gets planted in Ukraine this year. The war in Ukraine has left much uncertainty of what seed availability will be like this year and potentially in 2024 as well. Ukraine was one of the major producers and exporters of sunflower oil accounting for 50 percent of global sunflower oil trade. The events in Ukraine escalated an already tight vegetable oil market. This conflict between Ukraine and Russia bears watching as it has significantly increased the uncertainty of the agricultural supply and demand conditions in the region and globally. In North America, the attention of the oilseed market will shift to demand news, weather, crop conditions and production prospects in the months ahead.

Registration is now open for our 2023 NSA Summer Seminar, scheduled for June 27-29, 2023. This year’s Summer Seminar will be held in Spearfish, South Dakota. You can register on our website – go to 2023 NSA Summer Seminar (sunflowernsa.com). You’ll find our tentative schedule too, as well as hotel information and more. Pre-registration will begin at $325 and golf at $130, so register early for the best price. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Spearfish Holiday Inn and Conference Center. To reserve your room, call 605-642-4683 or Hotel in Spearfish | Holiday Inn Spearfish-Convention Center Hotel (ihg.com) using the group code NSA. The rate is $129.99 per night plus taxes for Standard Rooms and $159.99 per night plus taxes for Suites. The block of rooms will expire on May 27, 2023. The program is being finalized and more information will be coming soon. Contact Tina Mittelsteadt at tinam@sunflowernsa.com with questions.

Veteran Farm Broadcaster Passes

Farm broadcaster Howard Hale, 87, has died. Hale was with KSIR-Fort Morgan, Colorado when he passed. Previously, he worked for a handful of Nebraska radio stations. Hale hosted several syndicated programs, including the Harvest USA Report and Horseman’s Corner. In 2013, Hale was inducted into the U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. Hall of Fame.

Reminder About Stored Seed

Producers who have stored seed are reminded to keep a close watch on seed moisture. It’s a good idea to have bins probed and tested regularly to protect your investment.

Upcoming Events

June 27-29, 2023 - NSA Summer Seminar; Spearfish, SD

Markets at a Glance

Weekly Prices Recorded on Monday, May 8, 2023 ($/CWT)

	Deliver	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change	2023 NEW Crop
Chicago Oil	Nearby	87.18	51.55	53.34	+1.79	52.14
West Fargo, ND	NuSun	40.00	21.00	20.75	-.25	22.50
West Fargo, ND	High Oleic	40.50	21.50	21.25	-.25	24.00
Enderlin, ND	NuSun	39.50	21.50	21.10	-.40	23.25
Enderlin, ND	High Oleic	40.00	22.00	21.60	-.40	24.45
Lamar, CO	High Oleic	38.70	23.25	23.25	NC	23.25

U.S. CRUDE OIL VALUES recorded on Monday, May 8, 2023
(dollars per 100 lb. internal U.S. locations)

	Last Year	Last Week	This Week	Change
Soybean Oil	99.90	56.11	57.84	+1.73
Cotton Oil (pbsy)	123.40	96.61	98.34	+1.73
Corn Oil	161.00	73.00	73.00	NC

Prices recorded here are believed to be reliable at the time of posting. All prices are subject to change. Contact these facilities for complete market details.

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