I didn't appreciate how much water sunflowers can absorb, I assumed the "heads down" position meant most of the rain would run off but the seeds and flower head are very porous and suck up moisture like a sponge.
The price is going north driven by demand from Russia although I had heard that sunflower crushing capacity in Ukraine significantly exceeds the domestic supply so there might be some local drivers.Earlier this week the price was 3,400UAH (273GBP) and today we are being quoted 3,800UAH (305GBP).
All we need now is an export ban on sunflowers! Which reminds me, my contacts are telling me the export ban on wheat is less stringently applied to Russia and Russia has hoovered up (his words) all the seed wheat. Why all the demand for seed wheat when Russian plantings are forecast down? Different export restrictions apply to seed wheat. Clever eh!