Nearby prices at the crush plants were unchanged to up 85 cents this week. About 16% of sunflowers were in the bin as of last week, up from 6% seven days earlier and equal to the five-year average for this time of year. In the past week, producers harvested an additional 64,800 acres pushing 2026 harvested acres to about 105,000 acres. Harvest progress remains slightly ahead of last year at this same time. Last week USDA pegged 2026 sunflower production at 2.3 billion pounds, down 1 percent from the revised 2025 production of 2.34 billion pounds. USDA increased oil sunflower production by 11.4 million pounds and non-oil type production by 2.5 million pounds from last year. Acreage updates were made in several states. Area planted, at 1.35 million acres, is up less than 1 percent from the June estimate and up 5 percent from last year. Sunflower growers expect to harvest 1.31 million acres, up 1 percent from the June forecast and up 4 percent from 2025. The overall average yield for all sunflower types forecast at 1,761 pounds per acre, is 100 pounds lower than last year’s average yield but will still represent the fourth highest on record for the US, if realized. The forecasted production in North Dakota would make it the leading sunflower producing state this year at 1.06 billion pounds, a decrease of 3 percent from 2025. The next estimates will be released in early January.