Ukraine’s grain harvest exceeds 17.5 mln tons as yields continue to improve

As of August 3, Ukrainian farmers had harvested 17.59 mln tons of grains and pulses from 4.01 mln hectares, or 33.9% of the projected area. Total production increased by nearly 6.94 mln tons over the past week, while the average yield rose from 4.2 to 4.38 t/ha as harvesting expanded across central, western, and northern regions of the country.

Wheat production reached 12.51 mln tons from 2.74 mln hectares (53.4% of the projected area), with an average yield of 4.57 t/ha. Barley harvest totaled 4.42 mln tons from 1.01 mln hectares (68.3% of the projected area), although its average yield declined slightly to 4.35 t/ha. Farmers also harvested 669.5 thsd tons of peas and 2.39 mln tons of rapeseed from 910.6 thsd hectares, with an average yield of 2.63 t/ha.

Wheat accounted for 85% of the increase in grain production recorded during the week. The largest grain volumes were harvested in Odesa (3.59 mln tons), Mykolaiv (2.12 mln tons), and Dnipropetrovsk (1.91 mln tons) regions.

The biggest weekly gains were recorded in Odesa region, where farmers harvested 1.17 mln tons of grain. Significant volumes were also collected in Kirovohrad (810.7 thsd tons), Poltava (572.2 thsd tons), and Cherkasy (504.2 thsd tons) regions. At the same time, the combined share of the three leading regions in total grain production declined from 54% to 43.4%, indicating that harvesting is accelerating across the rest of the country.

The pace of the harvest in the coming weeks will largely depend on the progress of wheat and rapeseed harvesting in central, western, and northern Ukraine. These regions are expected to play the key role in determining the country’s overall harvest growth during the remainder of the campaign.