Keep sunflower oil premiums in mind

2019 new crop sunflower prices are out at the ND crush plants with cash and Act of God contracts available. Something else to consider is the oil premiums that crush plants pay on sunflower. Sunflower is the only oilseed that pays premiums for oil content above 40 percent. Considering oil premiums that are offered at the crush plants on oil content above 40 percent at a rate of 2 percent price premium for each 1 percent of oil above 40 percent; this pushes a contract with 45 percent oil content gross return 10 percent higher per hundredweight. The AOG $16.50 contract increases to $18.15 and the cash $17.00 contract moves up to $18.70. Nearby prices at the crush plants ended the week mixed at down 5 cents to unchanged. USDA reported old crop sunflower stocks in all positions on Sept. 1, 2018, totaled 386 million pounds, down 35 percent from a year ago. All stocks stored on farms totaled 90.6 million pounds and off-farm stocks totaled 295 million pounds. Stocks of oil type sunflower seed are 279 million pounds; of this total, 81.6 million pounds are on-farm stocks and 197 million pounds are off-farm stocks. Non-oil sunflower stocks totaled 107 million pounds, with 9.00 million pounds stored on the farm and 98.1 million pounds stored off the farm. Some harvest activity has begun, and early results are promising as sunflowers handled the weather extremes in the upper Midwest once again.