Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Mar 17 2025

Canada sunflower acres to decrease

According to Statistics Canada data, Canadian farmers intend to plant 58,500 acres of sunflowers this spring, which is down 3 percent from 2024. Last year Canadian farmers planted 60,000 acres of sunflower. The 2025 intended acreage is 34 percent below the five-year average of 88,520 acres. The majority of Canada’s sunflower crop is grown in Manitoba, with production also in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

BeSure! This Growing Season

Planters will be rolling soon, and the growing season will be upon us! This year, BeSure! is back with its annual national campaign to promote best management practices. Agriculture stakeholders appreciate how neonicotinoid seed treatments, foliar sprays, soil drenches and granules increase yields and boost revenues, but they are also committed to protecting bees and other wildlife. This spring, growers and applicators can follow a few simple guidelines to BeSure! they’re using pesticides safely. To learn more visit: GrowingMatters.org/BeSure

Deadline is Approaching for NSA Scholarship

here is still time to submit applications for the National Sunflower Association’s Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship. Scholarship funds assist students who study in the field of agriculture with a special emphasis on sunflower production, promotion, or research. Preference will be given to students who are in their last two years of undergraduate studies or in graduate level studies and have maintained at least a cumulative 3.0 GPA on a 4.0=A scale. Application deadline is April 1, 2025. A total of $5,000 is available for the scholarship this year. Applications can be submitted online. Visit www.ndcf.net/receive/scholarships/stern.html to learn more. Contact Tina Mittelsteadt at tinam@sunflowernsa.com with any questions.

Markets

Nearby sunflower prices were down 50 cents to unchanged this week with new crop down 25 cents to up 40 cents at the crush plants. March USDA WASDE reports are typically quiet, and last week’s report was not an exception. USDA's March report left domestic corn and soybean balance sheets and ending stocks unchanged. USDA left production estimates from Argentina and Brazil alone and made minor revisions to the wheat balance sheet. USDA left soybean ending stocks unchanged at 380 million bushels. The agency made no revisions to the supply and demand table. Globally, soybean ending stocks were cut nearly 3 million metric tons (mmt) to 121.41 mmt, due mostly to higher crush. Argentina's production was left unchanged at 49 mmt; however, its domestic crush use was increased by 1 mmt. Brazil's 169 mmt production estimate was unchanged. Traders are also speculating on potential US acreage for the upcoming growing season. Trade expectations about planted acreage will likely be in a wide range before the report is released on March 31. The first estimate of 2025 sunflower acres will be available that day. They are also beginning now to look at North American weather and potential weather problems that may arise given dry conditions that have set in after a drier than normal winter in many locations. The market will also be closely monitoring the latest twists and turns in our fast shifting trade policy.

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