Sunflower Meal at 67% of Soybean Meal: Board Awaits Harvest Quotes

No new USDA feedstuffs quotes have been published since the last issue, leaving the substitution board unchanged. Sunflower meal holds the protein lead at $0.275 per pound of crude protein on a dry-matter basis, 67% of soybean meal's cost per pound of CP. On energy, hominy feed stands at $0.076 per pound of TDN, 65% of corn's cost per pound of TDN. Benchmarks per USDA: corn $179/ton (plant input cost), soybean meal $391/ton FOB.

• Feather meal is the second-cheapest protein source at $0.281/lb CP, 68% of soybean meal on a dry-matter basis.
• DDGS at about $191/ton prices protein at 88% of soybean meal and energy at 104% of corn, both per pound of nutrient on a dry-matter basis using book-value coefficients. Energy prices above corn parity this week.
• Soybean hulls and wheat millrun follow hominy feed on the energy board at 96% and 97% of corn's cost per pound of TDN, respectively.
• USDA supply context (Sep 18): The ERS Feed Outlook (Bond, Ramsey and Huang) projected a 5.4-million-metric-ton reduction in 2026/27 U.S. corn production. The ERS Oil Crops Outlook (Bukowski and Swearingen) raised the 2026/27 U.S. soybean production forecast and set the season-average soybean price at $12.00/bushel. Both reports predate this issue.
• Harvest phase (Sep through Nov): This is the period when new-crop grain typically presses the corn and soybean meal benchmarks. No new quotes have cleared since the last issue, so no feedstuff-specific movement can be reported this week.

Data note: 47 USDA AMS series have not updated in over two weeks, including Kansas delivered sun-cured alfalfa pellets, Portland delivered sun-cured alfalfa pellets and California FOB almond hulls for Sacramento, San Joaquin and South. Figures from those specific series are stale.