Sunflower prices are buoyant and could remain so this fall due partly to a decline in North American acreage.
A dependable estimate of sunflower acreage is not yet available but analysts expect a crop well below normal.
Sunflower acres were down because the wet spring hampered planting in dominant sunflower growing areas such as Manitoba and North Dakota.
Also, many farmers who might normally grow sunflowers opted to grow other crops.
Because of a mid-May snowfall across southern Manitoba and parts of southern Saskatchewan, there is a possibility that sunflower crops planted before the snow may not germinate properly, said Mel Reimer, National Sunflower Association of Canada executive director.
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The prospect of higher prices is good news for growers but a shortage can also have a downside. Well-established export markets could be lost, at least temporarily, until Canada again produces an average sized crop.
“Overall, it’s not good,” said Reimer. “It’s certainly a concern.”
With supplies from last year’s sunflower crop quickly dwindling, prices for confectionary seed and oil types are above average.
Keystone Grain, a buyer at Winkler, Man., was offering 25 cents a pound last week for confectionary seed picked up at the farmer’s yard and 18 cents a lb. for oil types delivered to the company’s plant.
“Right now, I cannot find lower quality confectionary sunflowers for the bird food market,” said Mike Durand, grain merchant for Keystone Grain.
Confectionary seeds typically fetch 20 to 21 cents per lb. and oil types sell at around 15 cents.
Durand estimated June 29 that the Canadian sunflower crop will be about 65 to 70 percent of normal this year.
Reimer was less optimistic, suggesting sunflower acreage could fall to 50 to 60 percent of the average.
The United States typically produces about two million acres of sunflowers. Production there is expected to drop about 25 percent this year, said Reimer.
Given that, he said confectionary seed prices could go as high as 30 cents a lb., depending on how this year’s crop fares.
“But the price really doesn’t mean anything unless you have supplies.”
Responding to higher prices, farmers shipped a lot of sunflowers over the past two months, said Reimer. He believes there is little crop left in farmers’ bins.
A short crop this year could crimp the Canadian sunflower industry’s ability to satisfy the needs of its customers, especially in foreign markets.
That could benefit countries like China and Argentina, even if they cannot provide the same quality of seed.
“If they gain access to those markets, we may never be able to get them back.”
Durand said China can be a competitor, but it is not always dependable.
“China coming to the market depends on their yields. The following year they may be there, they may not. They’re in and they’re out. They’re unpredictable.”
