Topeka ? Kansas sunflower farmers are having a good year thanks to delayed planting and tight stocks, which have pushed sunflower prices to double what they were a year ago.

John Sandbakken, marketing director for the National Sunflower Association based in Mandan, N.D., told The Topeka Capital-Journal that new sunflower crop prices in Kansas will hit the $30 to $35 per hundredweight mark. That compares to a $15 per hundredweight price last year.

Other areas of the nation may see prices climb to as high as $40 per hundredweight.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates Kansas farmers will plant 132,000 acres of sunflowers this season, about a 5 percent decline from last season

Sandbakken said there’s an increased demand for sunflower oil and bird feed, creating intense competition for the product.