Sunflower markets reported

Seed prices started moving higher at the crush plants, increasing $0.25 to $0.40 for NuSun and high oleics. Bird food prices remain within range of market highs in the Dakotas. The weather forecast for the next two weeks is predicting above normal temperatures and drier than normal moisture conditions in the sunflower growing region. This bodes well for crop dry down and an earlier than normal start to harvest. Harvest could be just days away in some locations of North and South Dakota after a hard freeze this month ended the growing season. Most likely harvest will not start in earnest until early October. Getting the crop harvested several weeks early can result in lower drying costs, plus reduces late season crop and blackbird damage. Harvest continues to move along in Texas and is ahead of the five-year average. In the coming weeks, several USDA reports will give producers and industry a better picture of sunflower fundamentals heading into the 2020/21 marketing year. On Sept. 30, USDA will report old crop sunflower stocks and on Oct. 9 USDA will give its first estimate of 2020 U.S. harvested sunflower acres and production. Traders will be eager to see how USDA factors in any potential effect of the freeze into the production numbers. These reports along with actual harvest reports will set the tone for new crop sunflower price direction in the near term.