Update:
Sudan acres in Imperial Valley as of June 13th was 57,576 acres, which is almost the same as last season at this time. Farmers continue to plant sudan and we anticipate total sudan acres in the Imperial Valley to be about 65,000 acres.
Imperial Valley Sudan:
Farmers in the Imperial Valley are busy planting and harvesting sudan grass. Sudan acres as of June 3rd were 52,445 acres. In 3 weeks, farmers planted an additional 13,819 acres after harvesting wheat. It now appears total acres in the Imperial Valley will be close to last year’s July peak acres of 64,607. Also, we expect less domestic demand this year due to declining alfalfa prices and feel there will be plenty of sudan supplies to meet export demand.
The early harvest has started with confusing and inconsistent pricing in the country side. The quality has been somewhat inconsistent due to a variation in stem size and color and should become more stable as harvest progresses. BVT is being very cautious in our sudan purchasing as we try to understand true demand and pricing from Japan buyers. details...