U.S. Sunflower Exports Down

National Sunflower Association Executive Director, John Sandbakken says when it comes to exports, oil variety sunflowers are down from a year ago.

“We had just a huge surge last season or last market year when Russia invaded Ukraine, and a lot of buyers are scrambling to find sunflower oil especially. And so that opened up a lot of opportunities for us. And it's, it's kind of interesting how, as the season went on, you know, people adjusted, they found other sources or Ukraine was able to move some oil. And so that dynamic kind of changed. And this year, the strong dollar is really affecting our exports a lot. You know, it's one of those things where we're normally the highest-priced oil that's out there, and for at least on the sunflower side of things. And so, you know, it's one of those things where when we have a strong dollar, it's always going to hurt us on the export market. But domestically, you know, demand remains very, very strong. That's basically where the bulk of our oil goes to. “

As for the confection, sunflower varieties.

“Confectionery seeds, their exports are they're down slightly from where we were a year ago. But you know, overall, our key markets of Mexico and Spain and Canada are still doing very well and you know, might have lost some of those spot buyers but you know, overall, the on the confection side experts with very good.”

Sandbakken says 20% of all sunflowers produced in the United States are exported.