Nearby and new crop prices at the crush plants were unchanged to up 50 cents this week. About 16% of sunflowers were in the bin as of last week, up from 6% seven days earlier and equal to the five-year average for this time of year. In the past week, producers harvested an additional 64,800 acres pushing 2024 harvested acres to about 105,000 acres. Harvest progress remains slightly ahead of last year at this same time. Last week USDA pegged 2024 sunflower production at 1.3 billion pounds, down 42 percent from the revised 2023 production of 2.26 billion pounds. USDA cut 3.64 million pounds from 2023 oil sunflower production and 2.19 million pounds from non-oil type production from last year. Acreage updates were made in several states. Area planted, at 720,000 acres, is down 20 percent from the June estimate and down 45 percent from last year. Sunflower growers expect to harvest 691,000 acres, down 20 percent from the June forecast and down 45 percent from 2023. The overall average yield for all sunflower types is forecast at 1,889 pounds per acre. This is 102 pounds higher than last year’s average yield and will represent the highest on record for the US if realized. The forecasted production in North Dakota would make it the leading sunflower producing state this year at 591 million pounds, a decrease of 47 percent from 2023. The next estimates will be released in early January.
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