MarketsFarm — Despite fewer acres under hot and dry conditions, things are going well for Manitoba’s sunflower crop.
Out of the 88,000 acres planted for sunflowers across Canada, 77,000 of them are in Manitoba, according to Statistics Canada’s (StatCan) principal field crop acreage estimates released June 28. Both figures represent the fewest number of acres devoted to the oilseed since 2019.
Jody Locke, a Winkler, Man.-based product group manager for Scoular Canada, said more confection acres were planted this year compared to last year, despite being at the expense of black oil sunflowers.
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“Overall, the acres are still good. The plants have emerged; they are waist-high and looking pretty strong. I think they could use some moisture, but overall at this point, they are doing well,” she said.
According to the Manitoba government’s weekly crop report, released July 4, sunflowers were in the R1 and R2 stages (early bud), showing rapid growth and are in “good to excellent condition.”
“We’ve had some timely rains that have helped. There are small pockets where the lack of rain is definitely hurting,” Locke added. “But sunflowers will go deep to find water. So far, it hasn’t been an issue, but we could use some more rains.”
Locke also said there are no widespread insect or weed problems in sunflower fields at the moment.
Demand remains strong for both confection and black oil sunflowers despite being down compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Locke, who expects high demand to continue next year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projects world sunflower seed production to be 54.01 million tonnes for 2023-24, compared to 51.66 million in the previous year. Worldwide crush is projected at 49.52 million tonnes, down slightly from 49.74 million in 2022-23. Ending stocks will decline 790,000 tonnes to 3.94 million.
While Ukraine will see its sunflower seed production drop 86,000 tonnes to 4.902 million in 2023-24, Locke said the situation there will have little effect on Canadian markets.
“(The war in Ukraine) has affected markets not as much as we had anticipated,” she said. “They export a lot of oil. In terms of what we do with sunflowers, it hasn’t had a large impact on us.”
Locke added prices have come down since the start of 2023 to five-year averages, with Canadian black oil sunflower seeds selling for 26-32 cents/lb., while confection seeds are selling for 47-50 cents/lb.
Plenty of moisture is needed for a good sunflower crop this year, according to Locke, as well as heat to let the seeds fill out.
“It’s going to be a combination and like every other crop, it needs some wet and some hot,” she said.
— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.
