If it is up to Russian Agriculture Minister Tkachov, grain exports will be further increased during the 2017-2018 marketing season. The country is not harvesting the record volumes it set last year, but it is getting a good harvest.
The Russian state channel Russia-24 interviewed Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachov about the grain harvest, which is currently in full swing. The minister said in the interview that his ministry expects a total of between 103 and 105 million tons of grain. That was 120 million tons last year.
Harvest leaves
The harvest is currently 2 weeks behind last year. A lot of rain during the spring and summer has caused the yield to be considerably lower. Tkachov hopes that the weather will improve during the autumn months.
Dollar exchange rate and new markets
In the 2016-2017 season, Russia exported 35 million tons of grain. By far the largest part of this is wheat, accounting for 27 million tons. “It is possible to increase this volume to 2016 million tons in export year 2017-38,” Tkachov said. "Whether this is successful depends on the dollar exchange rate and whether it is possible to tap into new markets."
Fewer hectares harvested
Russian arable farmers have now harvested more than 11 million hectares, good for a volume of 46,8 million tons. At the same time last year, 15 million hectares had already been harvested with a total volume of 55,4 million tons.