Is there a sunflower seed shortage?

The last few times I've been in the farm store where I buy seed they have little or no sunflower seed. I had to buy some Cardinal feed yesterday because it was mostly sunflower. Expensive. When I checked out the clerk who knows me asked me if there was a sunflower shortage, I responded I hoped maybe she could tell me. She didn't know, just knew they hadn't had any lately. Is this just a local thing or wide-spread?

I haven't seen any shortages around here.

Plenty in the stores here also, both black and striped, Lowe's, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Tractor Supply.

I only buy sunflower hearts :)

i buy from intermoutain farmers outlet..big 40# bag.. just blackoil.. its more than regular seed..but i figure the birds need
the extra fat to survive..and this winter..sure alot of finches,sparrows..even quail have shown up..
?..question..has anyone else seen from their feeding birds in winter..a reduction in bugs during the summer?
i dont know if its a conscidence..karma..or what.. but id like to think that helping the bird population survival during winter
helps them out in spring...
am i dreaming?

No problem here in Australia.

The black ones are higher in oil and birds will get much fatter on them. [sounds familiar] ;O)
They are also cheaper to buy. [20 kilo bag]
Black Sunflower seed have more oil in them.
The problem with black seed is that birds like them so much they will become addicted to them and ignore other foods.
So you should only use them as treats.
Personally, I prefer and only use the grey ones.

I live near Beaumont Texas and usally buy sunflower seeds at Tractor Supply . We have had a hard time finding them there the last couple of months and the quality was not good . Today 3/13/2011 they were out did not know when they would recieve another shipment as they are having a hard time getting them. We feed about 40#s every 2 weeks.

Everytime my walmart gets down to 75 25# bags of BOSS we get another pallet full. No shortage here. But we were short of thistle during our finch season. Yep, they shipped all we had ordered a week before all the finch left the area.

My sister-in-law went to a local county co-op this morning and they were out of birdseed referencing a "world shortage".
I think you just have to find the right place. This place has plenty of loose seed in large barrels where you pay 2-3 times the cost per pound. I only buy there sparingly. I usually get my birdseed at Costco. I think it was $14.60 per 40lb bag last week.

Wow Linth, that's a great price at Costco.

We just bought two 50# bags for $20 each at Walmart and thought we were getting the best price available here.

That's not a bad price, duc ..... 40¢ per lb. Mine works out to 36.5¢ per lb. The reason I like what I get from Costco is that it has no corn and lots of oil sunflower seeds. I use to use a rule of thumb of 30¢ per lb. but that has long gone by the wayside. I just don't want birdseed with corn in it. I do buy some other seed by the lb., like at the co-op, to serve as an enticement ... like whole peanuts, peanut hearts or shelled peanuts. I just spread a few on the top because I use mostly open or platform-type feeders.