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The Basics of Sunflower Marketing
Saturday, February 2, 2002
filed under: Marketing/Risk Management
The Basics of Sunflower Marketing
Kansas State publication covers different facets of selling sunflower, including production contract examples
A new publication from Kansas State University, “Sunflower Marketing in the High Plains,” discusses how to develop a marketing plan for the crop. Much of the information is useful whether a sunflower producer is from the High Plains or Northern Plains. It covers sunflower market supply, demand, and price factors, as well as sunflower selling alternatives. It includes several examples of production contracts.
Gather the information necessary to make sound marketing decisions, the publication advises. Producers should be aware of current supply and demand fundamentals for sunflowers and other oilseeds, as well as historical sunflower prices and seasonal price patterns in their region. Know who your local buyers are, the types of sunflower they handle, and the cost to transport sunflower seed between them. And of course, know your cost of production, projected net return for the coming year, and the availability and cost of storage.
Here are four other sunflower marketing issues to consider before the growing season gets underway:
1) What type of sunflower production (Traditional linoleic, NuSun, high oleic, confection) will work best for you?
2) How much of your expected annual production should you forward contract
prior to harvest?
3) What quantity of noncontract production should be priced or sold at harvest versus
how much should be stored for later sale?
4) What price level is a “good” selling opportunity for you?
The publication also details how sunflower quality factors can affect price (see tables).
The publication can be downloaded from the Internet at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/agec2/l887.pdf. To read the PDF (Portable Document Form) file, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. –Tracy Sayler