Sunflower

Harvest Prices for Crop Insurance Plunge: What Does It Mean for Farmers?

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 16:01:51 GMT

The Risk Management Agency just released official harvest prices for federal crop insurance, and it’s not good news for farmers.

Harvest price is based on the average price during October. This year, those numbers are well below 2023 and the base prices set in February:

Corn — $4.16 harvest price versus $4.66 base price, a 50¢ drop
Soybeans — $10.03 harvest price versus $11.55 base price, a sharp $1.52 drop
Grain sorghum — $4.17 harvest price versus $4.67 base price, down 50¢
Confectionary sunflowers — down $1.50
Oil sunflowers — dropped $1.20

The drop comes as no surprise to Tony Jesina, senior vice president of insurance, Farm Credit Services of America.

“We’ve seen the trend in play for quite a while, but in October, we did get a little bit of a bump. It could have been a lot worse,” he says. “It’s still bad enough when you think about the price of corn being down 11% from spring and beans roughly 13%. The trend has not been our friend, that’s for sure.”

Lower harvest price levels will trigger some insurance payouts for the 2024 crop, according to Randy Martinson, Martinson Ag Risk Management in Fargo, N.D.

“There’s likely going to be revenue losses in some areas on soybeans. Corn, it’s just going to depend on if you had a lot of rain and drowned out corn,” he says.

With these prices, margins will be even tighter in 2025 and, for some, maybe in the red.

Jesina says farmers need to closely manage their cost of production and safety net.

“You look at the most common policy in place and that policy will not cover your cost of production for 2025,” he says.

Most producers will need to increase their coverage under their underlying policy or add a supplement.

“A lot of producers will look at the Supplemental Coverage Option known, SCO, or the Enhanced Coverage Option, ECO. When you layer ECO and SCO on top of your underlying policy, for most producers that will be enough coverage to provide a safety net that gets close or can actually go above covering their cost of production for 2025,” he explains.

Crop insurance is not an expense to scrimp on, and Jesina recommends paying for higher coverage to help guarantee revenue. In addition, he says crop insurance products are subsidized, and the ECO subsidy went up for the 2025 crop year.

Your Next Read: A Possible Recession Still Hangs Over the Ag Economy, But Positive Shifts Are Starting to Surface

Sunflowers Make Rubber a Reality

Wed, 27 Jan 2021 20:09:23 GMT

Natural rubber crops are a possible market for U.S. agriculture

A decapitated field in Colorado is keeping a secret and holding hope of a new crop. Headless sunflower plants trade beauty for brawn, pumping growth energy toward leaves instead of seed. Inside the green biomass hides the muscle of industry and empire: natural rubber.

Could sunflower grown exclusively for rubber become a viable crop for U.S. farmers? The reality is fast approaching farmland, according to Tom Christensen, CEO of Edison Agrosciences. Sunflower cultivated exclusively for natural rubber content is on track for 2019 commercial pilot acreage, and of particular importance to U.S. growers, the market couldn’t be hungrier. Global demand for industrial rubber products is projected to hit $158 billion by 2018, according to a study by Freedonia Group Inc.

Sunflower grown exclusively for natural rubber content is on track for 2019 commercial pilot acreage.

The rubber supply is dominated by tropical Hevea trees that bring tremendous profits into Southeast Asian coffers each year and billions of those dollars are pumped in by U.S. manufacturers. It’s a huge opportunity for U.S. agriculture—made all the more alluring because Southeast Asia’s Hevea trees are at the mercy of leaf blight, have a long production cycle and demand massive amounts of cheap labor. The market trade is ripe for emerging sources and Christensen is hot on the trail.

Based on acreage, sunflower is the second largest hybrid crop globally after corn. Compared with other plant sources, sunflower has an advantage: “The agronomics are well understood. Sunflower management practices are already in place,” he says.

Sunflower leaves contain 1% to 2% natural rubber, but there is no fundamental plant physiology barrier to increasing rubber percentages.

Essentially, Edison is using genetic modification to make sunflower leaves produce even more rubber. “Leaves are our focus,” says Thomas Hohn, director of research and development for Edison. “It may be possible to take leaf rubber up to 15% to 20% of dry weight. Our initial milestone is 5% to 6% through biotechnology.”

Because green leaf tissue houses the rubber, Edison wants to produce sunflower with no heads in order to direct plant energy into leaf matter instead of seed production. Hohn has ongoing research plots in Colorado and North Carolina to test the impact of mechanical head removal in fostering rubber concentration, but ultimately head removal will be achieved through genetic means. Hohn is also measuring plant growth regulator effects on rubber production. Growers can raise rubber sunflowers with current management techniques but without the necessity of fighting diseases that affect flowers and seeds, Hohn explains.

At harvest, the sole aim is to capture green matter. “We expect to bale and remove the dried crop from the field, similar to a forage crop,” Christensen says. “We will harvest above-ground biomass.”

Sunflower rubber exists as particles within the plants’ leaves and is not harvestable as latex. Edison expects to use a solvent-based rubber extraction method similar to what is used in oil seed processing.

With a relatively short growing season (85 to 90 days), sunflower rubber offers a wide geographic footprint. Christensen says the crop is an absolute fit for northern states but also sees opportunity in Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, and even as a potential second horse in a double-crop system.

Lab work, field plots and rubber extraction validation point to a possible commercial pilot in 2019. “Producers are looking for economic opportunities and they need a return above and beyond current crops,” Christensen says. “Sunflower rubber is going to be very attractive.”

Natural Rubber Bounces Back for Farmers

Wed, 27 Jan 2021 20:07:46 GMT

Edison, Firestone, Ford, or Rockefeller, the giants of American industry and invention believed one crop could rule them all: natural rubber.

Industrialization, subterfuge and war couldn’t gain rubber a crop foothold in the United States, but latex-producing plants are back on the edge of farmland, backed by the muscle of genetic breeding. Natural rubber is a titan’s playground, with U.S. market value upwards of $40 billion each year, and a mere crumb from the table could bring windfall profits to U.S. growers.

Henry Wickham is the forgotten man of agriculture. In 1876, he emerged from the Brazilian jungle and steamed to London with a cache of pilfered Hevea seeds, setting off a seismic shift in global rubber production. The rubber tree seed escape essentially destroyed the Amazonian rubber boom, and Wickham’s pods became the foundation of Southeast Asian production which still dominates the rubber market today. Another tremendous shift may be in the cards if U.S. farmers gain entry to a phenomenally lucrative rubber realm.

Tropically grown Hevea trees will never flourish in the U.S.

However, the future of U.S. natural rubber production is in Buckeye Gold dandelion, guayule and sunflower. Katrina Cornish, an Ohio State University research scholar and endowed chair in Bioemergent Materials with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, believes rubber crops are destined for major U.S. acreage and will become part of typical farming rotations.

As a leader in the vanguard of rubber research, Cornish says all three U.S. natural rubber crops are packed with promise. “The agronomic systems for sunflower rubber are already in place. We know how to grow vast quantities of sunflower and need to ramp up yield. Guayule production is ongoing and shows tremendous promise. Dandelion rubber will be at the market stage in just a few years.”

Buckeye Gold is currently under commercial farm testing. Latex is stored in the dandelion taproot. “Rubber crops have to fit in with existing agronomic systems. With Buckeye Gold, a slight modification on a carrot harvester is a change farmers will make,” describes Colleen McMahan, lead scientist on domestic natural rubber for USDA-ARS.

Buckeye Gold can be irrigated or grown dryland in any locale with common dandelion presence. In areas with a short growing season, Buckeye Gold can overwinter and handle a hard freeze. Natural rubber crops failed in the past, but McMahan points to the game-changing factors of genetic breeding and sustainability demand. In addition, Buckeye Gold carries a one-two punch, producing a highly desirable (inulin) food product used by diabetics. “There are economic blocks, but breeding improvements are incredibly fast. Buckeye Gold could become a new industrial crop for the U.S.,” says McMahan.

Sunflower Rubber

Edison Agrosciences is using biotechnology to increase the concentration of natural rubber in sunflower leaves and using agronomics to increase the amount of leaves per unit land area. “Sunflowers produce between 1% and 2% natural rubber in the leaves, but we’re going to have a major increase through biotech,” says Tom Christensen, CEO of Edison and Ag TechInventures , an innovation lab where Edison is a portfolio company.

The rubber in sunflower leaves isn’t harvestable as latex, but instead exists as particles within leaf cells. Edison is testing both genetic and agronomic mechanisms to stop flowering and boost biomass growth. Seed heads are removed early in development to allow for more rubber production in leaves. Sunflower rubber has a significant advantage over other new crops due to existing agronomics, according to Christensen. Sunflower planting, fertilization, harvest, weed control, and overall management are well understood.

Edison will have a substantial portion of its R&D program in field plots by 2016 and expects to have a commercial pilot in the field by 2019 with several thousand acres of sunflower for rubber. Christensen points to the need for a North American rubber value chain. “We don’t know if we could repurpose already existing extraction facilities or if we’d need to build from the ground up.”

“There’s so much interest in sunflower rubber,” adds Cornish. “We could have sunflower as a viable rubber crop in just a few years with proper investment.”

Sunflower rubber can be grown in a broad range of climates. As a 90-day crop tolerant to drought and heat, Christensen hopes to take sunflower into empty rotations to the south of traditional growing areas in the northern plains. “It’s difficult to overstate the significance of the natural rubber market. We’re increasing the amount of rubber sunflower makes in order to create an economic crop that can be grown in a number of climates in a short period.”

Guayule

Guayule is a rubber-producing shrub native to southwest Texas and northern Mexico. It has tremendous promise and is further along in development than Buckeye Gold or sunflower. Bridgestone has invested over $120 million in a research farm and processing plant in Arizona.

Guayule’s enormous advantage? It does not cause latex allergy and brings a price premium. In storage, Hevea latex begins deteriorating at six months. Solid guayule rubber can be stored as bales and remains stable for multiple years, according to Cornish. She says low-input guayule offers phenomenal latex value for growers. “If you compare production with latex value, I’m talking about $500,000 per acre for surgeon gloves or $300,000 for condoms. That means plenty of money for the farmer, processor, manufacturer, investor, retailer and others.”

Mike Fraley, CEO of PanAridus, is at the forefront of guayule production. PanAridus guayule varieties mature at 16 to 18 months, with annual crops thereafter, compared to Hevea trees, which require six to eight years to mature. Hevea plantations typically yield 1,700 lbs. per acre, but some of Fraley’s varieties are beating the hevea average.

PanAridus contracts with Arizona growers at a measured pace to fit the extraction process and market. Fraley insists on walking before running. “People fall off the rails by overreaching,” he says. “We first show the ag community the product value and then we’ll contract big acreage. We’ve got enough seed for 100,000 acres right now.”

PanAridus relies on its genetics and processing for quality, and depends on growers for tonnage. “That dog doesn’t hunt about demanding quality from growers because it’s our responsibility. Guayule is going to work for significant grower profit,” notes Fraley. Beyond rubber, PanAridus is aiming for 100% utilization of the guayule shrub. High-value resins for adhesives, fragrance, or flavor, and bagasse for biofuel and building supplies.

The U.S. market demands 1.2 million metric tons of natural rubber per year, and virtually every pound is imported. PanAridus wants to meet 15% of U.S. consumptive needs with 160,000 to 180,000 guayule acres within a decade. “I’ve worked with corn and cotton, but guayule is the most exciting crop species I’ve ever encountered,” explains Fraley.

Rubber Road

The Southeast Asia rubber industry’s catbird seat has worn wobbly. Hevea rubber production is analogous to maple syrup collection. Trees are cut, and weeping latex is collected in buckets in a labor-intensive system. Southeast Asia’s Hevea trees are highly susceptible to South American leaf blight, which has already decimated rubber trees in Brazil. All rubber acreage in Southeast Asia is derived from Wickham’s seed samples, which is a heritage of about 15 trees. The remarkably narrow genetic window places the miles and miles of cloned Hevea acreage on a precarious perch if leaf blight emerges.

Despite Southeast Asia’s rubber troubles, demand is doubling with development in Asia, Brazil, China, and India. “The world economy is headed for a massive rubber shortage in the future,” warns Cornish. “We need our own major acreage ready when the shortfalls hit. Once Africa reaches a certain development point, demand will be even stronger.”

U.S. manufacturers pump billions of rubber dollars into the Southeast Asian economy every year. Globally, 12 million metric tons of natural rubber are produced each year. “We’re headed to 20 million tons very soon, and in 30 years we’ll be needing 30 million,” says Cornish. “Where’s it going to come from? Not the Hevea rubber tree. We’d better be growing it right here on American farmland.”

California Producer Embraces Technology Early and Often

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 21:29:50 GMT

In the heart of California’s Sacramento Valley, Blake Harlan sits at his desk. It’s early March. He is talking on his iPhone and trying to wrap up some business in his office, which he built next to a 1900s-era house that has been in his family for generations. Life is about to get busy for this grain, nut and fruit producer. Soon, tomatoes will come off the vine, picked by a harvesting machine that has been decades in the making. Click on the image below to read the full story.

Plant Disease Trials Show Sunflower Promise

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 20:58:17 GMT

Bees exit a hive, collect a beneficial microbe as they exit, and deliver a booster shot to crops. In replicated trials, Bee Vectoring Technology (BVT) achieved an average 47% reduction in incidence and a 20% reduction in the severity of sclerotinia head rot in sunflowers at three separate test locations in 2017. Comparable levels of control were observed in 2016 trials.

BVT uses crop pollinators to deliver disease control. The BVT system utilizes dispenser technology on a hive to deliver proprietary plant beneficial microbes to crops. The trials, conducted in conjunction with North Dakota State University (NDSU), began in 2016. However, 2017 was the first year to see testing on BVT’s bumblebee hive dispenser and a new honeybee hive dispenser.

A 2017 commercial trial was conducted in sections of a 200-acre field near Munich, N.D. “There was generally low disease pressure in the field this year, but the crop in areas within the range of the flight of bees showed further disease suppression, and yield increases,” according to a BVT release.

“The overall sclerotinia disease pressure was generally low this year but the BVT system showed good potential both from a disease control and yield perspective,” says producer Craig Schommer. “Additional testing will be required under higher pressure to fully quantify the benefits.”

“We now have two years of excellent results in sunflowers, and were pleased with how well the prototype honeybee dispenser worked. Sunflowers are a lower value crop compared to strawberries and growers have very limited choices in battling disease in the crop since chemical sprays are not economically viable,” says Ashish Malik, BVT CEO.

For more information, see beevt.com .

Kansas Farmer Prepares for Sunflower Field to Bloom

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 20:58:01 GMT

An eastern Kansas farmer is hoping to attract visitors to his sunflower plot over Labor Day weekend.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that George Hunsinger has a 6-acre (2.4 hectares) plot of sunflowers in Lawrence. The field attracted about 200 visitors in its first season last year.

The field has gray mammoth sunflowers growing up to 12 feet tall, and Peredovik sunflowers growing up to 6 feet tall.

Hunsinger says the mammoth sunflowers should be in full bloom by Labor Day weekend. Visitors are welcome to photograph the flowers for free and can take home a bloom for a suggested donation of $1 per flower.

Hunsinger says the sunflower plot is mostly a hobby and that he focuses on rotating corn and soybean crops on his more than 300-acres of land.

4-Miles of Sunflowers Serve as Memorial to Wife

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 20:56:29 GMT

A Wisconsin farmer plants 400 acres of sunflowers near the highway as a touching and stunning tribute to his late wife.

Along a stretch of Wisconsin State Road 85 sunflowers can be seen for miles. They were planted by Don Jaquish in a 60-foot swath covering five farms and 400 acres total as a memorial to his wife Babbatte, who lost her fight with cancer last November.

According to KARE 11 , neighboring farmers allowed Don to pay whatever he felt was right for rent to help memorialize Babbatte.

“She’s always loved flowers, but sunflowers were her favorite,” Don says.

The tribute can be seen driving southwest from Eau Claire, Wis. next to fields of soybeans and corn. Along with memorializing Babbatte the sunflowers will also go towards a charity in her name: Babbette’s Seeds of Hope . The sunflowers seeds harvested from the fields will be sold at Valley Feeds in Menomonie, Wis. with proceeds going to the support of families with cancer and other illnesses.

For a better view of the sunflower memorial checkout the following video:

"Best" North Dakota Sunflower Crop Expected Despite Drought

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 20:58:11 GMT

Sunflower growers have struggled to get traction with harvest, and of the top four sunflower growing states, all four are running behind average.

The summer drought in North Dakota does not appear to have an impact on early acres being cut, because timely rain in August saved the seeds.

Cliff Naylor of AgDay affiliate KFYR-TV reports.

AG TIME Crush it All by John Walsh

Sun, 22 Nov 2020 21:15:52 GMT

The markets are rebounding today led by meal. It is my belief we are potentially on the verge of a large shift in the oilseeds in general. The slow down in Chinese imports is a large story. The ramifications larger. The demand growth for beans and consequentially meal has been unprecedented year after year. This is stalled. Actually predicted to contract. What does this mean? The global carry is moving to the largest number ever, by far. In addition, the global crush capacity is the largest ever. This equates to more protein supplies. This while the share of soymeal globally has declined since 2016 over 3 million tons. The global oilseed growth is expanding. Especially the black sea sunflowerseed. This offers another competition to soymeal. It is my thought that we will continue to see the soymeal sink in use while competition from other protein areas expands. This will ultimately reduce demand for soymeal. The global markets will crush everything it can due to the high margins. It is my thinking that we are close to a high in soymeal. An early rally Monday may offer an opportunity to quantify a long term strategy.

Corn put on a show today after yesterday’s weak session. Was that a blow off low? Remains to be seen. I have favored the corn and believe a window exists for a nice rally. There is talk today that credit concerns could curtail Argentinian plantings. Remains to be seen. I don’t really buy it. All is possible though. It seems that the USDA report in nov offers the best chance to spark some corn bulls. The yields my be overstated. If so, we may have a corn market yet.

To discuss long term opportunities call 800 993 5449 or jwalsh@walshtrading.com

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