# Sunflower Meal Leads Protein Board at 75% of Soybean Meal _Jun 18, 2026_ > Sunflower meal prices at $0.240/lb of crude protein (DM basis), 75% of soybean meal and cheapest on the USDA feedstuffs board this week. Hominy feed leads energy at 80% of corn. Both benchmarks are below their 5-year medians. Sunflower meal is the cheapest protein on the USDA feedstuffs board this week at **$0.240 per pound of crude protein** on a dry-matter basis, **75 percent of soybean meal's cost per pound of CP**. Feather meal follows at $0.255 per pound of CP, 79 percent of the soybean meal benchmark. Meat and bone meal rounds out the top three at $0.289 per pound of CP, 90 percent of soybean meal. [Chart: Sunflower meal price ($/ton, as-fed)](https://the-ration.com/ingredient/sunflower-meal) ([data](https://the-ration.com/ingredient/sunflower-meal.md) — chart image: https://the-ration.com/charts/ingredient/sunflower-meal/chart.png) - **Hominy feed** leads energy at **$0.076 per pound of TDN** (80 percent of corn's benchmark cost per pound), per USDA. Soybean hulls follow at $0.090 per pound of TDN, 96 percent of corn. - **DDGS** is at approximately $170 per ton. On a dry-matter, cost-per-nutrient basis, DDGS runs energy at **114 percent of corn's cost per pound of TDN** and protein at **100 percent of soybean meal's cost per pound of CP**. It sits at or above both benchmarks this week. - **Rendering fats** are running well above historical levels. Yellow grease in California (Central Coast) is at **$62 per ton FOB plant**, 86 percent above its 5-year median, per USDA. Choice white grease in Minnesota is at **$82 per ton FOB plant**, 60 percent above the 5-year median. Fats are priced but not scored on the nutrient leaderboard. - **Almond hulls** in California (Sacramento Valley) are reported at **$70 per ton FOB plant**, 51 percent below the 5-year median, and South California at **$95 per ton FOB plant**, 44 percent below the 5-year median, per USDA. All three California almond hull series are in the stale set; treat those figures with caution. Benchmarks: USDA reports corn (US #2 yellow) at **$4.08 per bushel** (approximately $146 per ton as-fed, delivered ethanol plant), 9 percent below its 5-year median. Soybean meal is at approximately **$306 per ton FOB**, with soybeans (US #1) at $11.43 per bushel, 3 percent below the 5-year median. **Data note:** 40 USDA feedstuffs series have not updated in over two weeks, including alfalfa pellets, almond hulls and barley. Treat figures from those series as indicative only. --- Canonical URL: https://the-ration.com/issues/2026-06-18