Ukraine has increased its forecast for this year’s grain harvest

UkrAgroConsult

Ukraine has a record grain harvest this year.

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine has updated its forecast for gross grain production to 59.7 million tons. Oilseed harvest volumes remain unchanged at 21.6 million tons. The total harvest of grains and oilseeds for the current year is currently 81.3 million tons.

According to preliminary estimates, in 2023, farmers will harvest the following volumes of grain: wheat – 22.2 million tons, barley – 5.8 million tons, and corn – 30.1 million tons.

As for oilseeds, the harvest of sunflower remained at 13 million tons and soybeans at 4.6 million tons. The rapeseed harvest is complete – more than 4 million tons.

Grain yields also increased to 54.7 c/ha. This is a record high for Ukraine, as the previous highest grain yield was in 2021, which amounted to 53.6 c/ha. In fact, this made it possible to once again revise upward the production volumes of this year’s harvest and, in particular, to increase corn production from 28.5 million tons to more than 30 million tons. Corn has been harvested on 87% of the area. Last year, as of the same date, 66% of the crop was harvested. Under favorable weather conditions, corn harvesting will continue, although some of the crop will remain in the fields until spring.

The total area under spring and winter grains this year was 980 thou hectares less than last year and amounted to 10,895 thou hectares. In early spring of 2023, the total gross harvest for the current year was forecast at 63.5 mln tons. This was 13% less than in 2022. In June, after the start of the harvest, the forecast was raised to 68 million tons, which was 7% less than in 2022. In early September, due to favorable weather conditions, there was every reason to revise the forecast upward to 76.7 million tons, and then in October to 79.1 million tons and now to 81.3 million tons.

Tags: wheat, sunseed, crop forecast, Ukraine, grain, barley, soybean