Sunflower meal price

Sunflower meal is a protein feed, fed to raise a ration's crude-protein content. On a dry-matter basis it runs about 32% crude protein and 57% TDN, roughly 0.57 Mcal of net energy for lactation per pound of dry matter, at about 91% dry matter as fed. Those figures come from Colorado State University Extension, Feed Composition for Cattle and Sheep (Fact Sheet 1.615). Solvent, with hulls (~28-34% CP grade); high fiber lowers energy. A dehulled grade runs much higher. The leaderboard uses them to convert this week's board price into a cost per pound of protein and per pound of energy, so it can be ranked against corn and soybean meal. Prices are quoted per ton, and the cheapest board price is not the cheapest fed price once freight and moisture are counted (see the FOB-vs-delivered guide). Sunflower meal is crushed from sunflower seed once the oil, much of it now the high-oleic type prized for cooking oil, has been pressed out. The Dakotas grow the great majority of the US crop, so supply is a northern Plains story more than a Corn Belt one. Whether the hull stays in is the biggest quality swing: a with-hull meal runs lower in protein and higher in fiber, and most of what trades commercially keeps the hull in. That fiber load is why cattle rations, which tolerate it, are the main buyer, while poultry and swine use stays limited. Price generally follows soybean meal, adjusted down for the fiber and lower lysine.