U.S. exports of confectionary sunflowers used in snacks are expected to set a record this year because of weather problems in other countries, while the demand for oil sunflowers may keep most of that crop home.

"The demand is so high here that we don't have it to move overseas," said Larry Kleingartner, executive director of the Bismarck-based National Sunflower Association.

Sunflower growers are expecting a good crop. North Dakota leads the country in the production of all sunflowers, both oil and non-oil, and typically accounts for at least half the country's sunflower production, said John Sandbakken, the National Sunflower Association's international marketing director.

Nationwide, the sunflower crop "looks tremendous," Sandbakken said. Eighty percent of the crop has been rated good to excellent, he said.

Lance Russell, a sunflower grower in Hays, Kan., said he drove halfway across his state last week, surveying sunflowers.

"I did not see one field that did not look good," Russell said. Kansas ranks third in acreage among the sunflower-growing states, behind North Dakota and South Dakota.

U.S. confectionary sunflower seed exports should surpass the record set two years ago at 70,000 metric tons, Sandbakken said.

"We're seeing a record year in in-shell sunflowers," he said.

About half the U.S.-grown confectionary sunflowers are exported annually, Sandbakken said.

Sunflower oil prices in Europe are the highest in at least two decades because of bad weather and low yields there, he said.

In the United States, prices for oil sunflowers are at all-time high, fetching about $20 per hundredweight, Kleingartner said.

The Agriculture Department says 1.8 million acres of sunflowers were planted this year, including 1.5 million acres of oil sunflowers. Nationwide, the oil sunflower acres were down 7 percent while non-oil sunflower acres increased 11 percent.

In North Dakota, oil sunflower acres increased from 770,000 last year to 790,000 this year. Non-oil sunflowers increased from 130,000 acres last year to 170,000 acres this year.

Most oil sunflowers planted now are NuSun, a variety that produces oil with less saturated fat and no trans fat linked to heart disease. Snack food companies are using NuSun oil to cook potato chips, Kleingartner said.

The NuSun variety, developed by researchers at North Dakota State University and trademarked by the sunflower association, has created new markets and opportunities for growers, Russell said.

"Now that the demand is there, we need to catch up with supply - it's not very often we're in that position," he said.

"With good, consistent domestic demand, I don't see oil prices going down," Sandbakken said. The surge in sunflower oil prices in Europe "will prompt the U.S. market and keep it firm," he said.

Before NuSun came on the market, about 80 percent of the nation's oil sunflowers were exported with the remainder used domestically, Sandbakken said. In the past five years, he said, about 80 percent of the oil sunflowers grown in the United States have been used there.

Russell said he expects more oil sunflower acres in Kansas, which is known as the Sunflower State.

"This area has the largest potential for growth, and we're working hard to do that," Russell said.