Old crop sunflower prices were unchanged to up $1.50 with new crop prices unchanged to up 20 cents at the crush plants this week. In the past three weeks nearby prices have seen an increase of $2.15-$2.50 per cwt. at the ND crush plants. Last week, USDA issued its initial outlook for 2026 sunflower production and usage for the 2026/27 marketing year. Beginning stocks were estimated at 324 million pounds. The initial yield estimate for all sunflower types was 1,775 pounds per acre. This is lower than the 2025 yield of 1,863 pounds but higher than the five-year average yield of 1,721 pounds. Oil-type sunflower harvested acreage is expected to be 3% higher and non-oil sunflower harvested acres 25% higher than last year. Total sunflower seed production was pegged at 2.31 billion pounds which is slightly lower than 2025. Despite the higher oil-type acreage, sunflower seed crush was decreased by 40 million pounds to 952 million pounds on slightly lower 2026 production. The other use category (nonoil use and residual) was increased by 82 million pounds to 2.07 billion pounds. Ending stocks are forecast to rise to 359 million pounds, a 11% increase from MY 2025/26 but well below the five-year average. USDA will provide their updated yield and production estimates for sunflowers in October.
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