such, U.S. andCanadiangrowers “stand to gain fromtheBlackSea tradedisruptions,” the association said, adding it expects “plenty of volatility in the coming days.” With strong demand for sunflower oil even before Russia attacked Ukraine, Driver said he expects American farmers will pick up some of the slack by planting more sunflowers this year and potentially next year. But he said the increased acre- agewon’tbesubstantial becauseof limited milling capacity in theU.S. for the oilseed. “You’renot going to see traditional corn growers stop growing corn and grow sun- flowers instead,” he said. The Dakotas are the nation’s leading producer of sunflowers, with 78% of U.S. acreage. Together, the two states planted a littlemore than 1million acres last year. That’s compared to 16.8 million acres in Ukraine and 15.4million acres inRussia. InCalifornia, farmers areon track tobe- ginplantingsunflowersnextweek.Acreage here reached 46,000 in 2021, up from 44,100 acres in 2020, according to USDA. But with the state’s ongoing drought and curtailments onwater for farming, people in the business say competition for land and water to grow sunflowers and other annual crops remains fierce. Sutter County farmerDavidRichter has been growing sunflowers for 18 years. He said his cropping plans remain “up in the Sunflowers Continued from Page 1
Even though there has been no impact so far to thecropCaliforniagrowerswill be planting this year—the seeds ofwhichwill be sold to farmers worldwide to produce the 2023 crop—Howe said some of those seedsmay endup sitting inawarehouse if the Russia-Ukrainewar continues. “This ripple effect—where does it go? How long does it last?” he asked. Becausemost sunflower seeds are bred tobe sown for a specific region,Howe said certified seed to be grown in Russia and Ukraine are not typically sold to other re- gions such as the United States. If they’re stored properly, seeds that haven’t been treated with fungicides or insecticides couldbe sold for two to three years. He es- timates about 75%to85%of the sunflower seeds produced in the state are exported, with the restmarketed toU.S. farmers. DriverofNuseedsaidhe thinks sunflow- er seedproduction inCaliforniacould rise as seedcompanies that hadproduction in Ukraine and Russia now look for alterna- tive locations. “The demand that was forecasted pri- or to this invasion and conflict was pretty strong for sunflowers globally,” he said. “We are seeing an uptick in overall acre- age around the world. I think both of those are driving more production here inCalifornia.” (ChingLeeisanassistanteditorofAgAlert. Shemaybe contactedat clee@cfbf.com.)
Market dis- ruptions from the Russia- Ukraine war have added uncertainty for California sun- flower grow- ers and seed producers.
air” because he doesn’t know howmuch water he will get on his Sacramento River Settlement contract. But he saidhe’s going to try toplant sunflowersbecause theyuse the leastamountofwatercomparedtooth- er field crops he usually grows. “I’mstretchinga limitedsupplyofwater the best I can with crops that don’t take a lot of water, such as sunflowers,” he said. Compared to corn, wheat or safflower, sunflowers historically have been a high- er-value rotational crop for California farmers, saidDanHowe, locationmanag- er for Remington Seeds inColusaCounty. The company works with farmers to pro- duce seeds for seed companies, and in recent years, he said there has been an upward trend in the company’s sunflower acreage in the state. But this year, landand water availability has reduced plantings. D.J. Ehresman, aRemingtonagronomist
and fieldrepresentative, said thecompany is on the verge of finalizing contracts with growers, withabout 90%of its acreage “set in stone.” Those contracted fields stretch from Chico to Stockton. Due to reduced surface-water allocations, he saidgrowers with access to wells will “play a pretty big role” in producing sunflowers this year. Howe said he is not aware of any seed companiesmakingmajorcroppingchang- es to the current growing season, as most of them are moving forward as though “wehavea relativelynormal sales season.” However, he said he also thinks “a good chunk” of Russia and Ukraine’s 2022 crop won’t beplantedand that seedcompanies are positioning themselves for that. “You can’t have a conflict between the two largest sunflower-growingcountries in the world and there not being an impact,” he said. “Thequestion is howbig andhow long. That’s the uncertainty of it all.”
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