Ukraine sows less maize and more sunflowers

Due to the Russian invasion, it is not easy to achieve the planned area of ​​spring crops in Ukraine. Half of the expected area has now been sown. The sowing campaign is lagging considerably behind. In addition, the Ukrainian grower opts for other crops instead of the traditional spring crop.

To date, about 7 million hectares of spring crops have been sown and planted in Ukraine. That is about 25% to 30% less than in the same period in 2021, Mykola Solskyi, Ukraine's agriculture minister, told Reuters on Monday. He also notes that, due to all the circumstances, the sowing quality is of lesser quality than last year. 

Smaller maize area
Despite the circumstances, difficult logistics and scarcity of fuel and other products, farmers in Ukraine continue to sow. The forecast is that the area of ​​spring crops will be more than 14 million hectares. That is a decrease of 2,7 million compared to 2021. About half is therefore at the moment. Currently 2,4 million hectares of sunflowers and 2,0 million hectares of maize have been sown. Summer barley sits on 853.000 hectares. According to the Minister of Agriculture, what is striking about the acreage is that relatively less maize is sown and more sunflowers and soybeans. The main spring crop is being replaced by crops that are cheaper to save money. Crops are also grown with the same costs, but which may yield more on the current market. 

Export continues steadily
It is known that there is still a lot of product stored in Ukraine that cannot be exported. Normally the largest part is exported via the Black Sea, but the ports are affected by the Russian invasion. Ukraine tries to export as much as possible via train and road transport. After all, 1,1 million tons of grain were exported in April, according to the agriculture minister. This mainly concerned maize (768.000 tons) and wheat (127.000 tons. In total, more than 800.000 tons of exports went by rail. 

Jesse Torringa

Jesse is an editor at Boerenbusiness and focuses in particular on the arable farming sector, including grain and onions. He also closely follows the fertilizer market. In addition, Jesse works on an arable farm in Groningen with seed potatoes as the main branch.

j.torringa@boerenbusiness. Nl

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.