Page 64 - UKRRptJul19

new record high.”
Last year’s record 70 million-ton harvest may be the new normal for Ukraine’s top export – grain. With spring sowing completed, farmers seeded 14.8 million hectares, the same amount as last year, reports the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry. Noting that favorable weather allowed farmers to start planting one month earlier than last year, Deputy Minister Volodymyr Topchiy says: "The period of hibernation was favorable, and the spring weather conditions were better than in 2018...one can expect that the harvest of early grains in 2019 will not be lower than last year’s.”
While this year’s grain harvest may match last year’s in size, the crop mix will shuffle as farmers look for highest prices. King corn will shrink by 7%, to 33.1 million tons, predicts APK-Inform consultancy. Wheat will increase to 26.2 million tons and barley will increase to 7.9 million tons. Sunflower seed harvest will stay virtually the same, at 14.9 million tons. As a result, sunflower oil exports will be unchanged – 5.9 million tons. Soybean production is to drop by 20%, to 3.7 million tons. In compensation, canola production is to go up by 29%, to 3.6 million tons.
64 UKRAINE Country Report July 2019 www.intellinews.com