Ukrainian farmers expanded their sunflower production area by 3.3% in the 2025-2026 marketing year (MY) compared to the 2024-2025 MY, given its attractive prices in the past poor harvest year, and the harvest will be 3% higher, according to forecasts by the industry analytical agency UkrAgroConsult.
The agency expects that the sunflower harvest forecast for 2025/26 MY will be 3% higher than last year, given that the sunflower market is the “grayest” among other oilseeds.
“Currently, harvest statistics show low yields. Expectations that the northward and westward progress of the harvest will significantly increase yields have not been confirmed. Yields are increasing but remain quite low,” experts explained.
They recalled that in 2024/25 MY, the sunflower harvest was 20% lower than in 2023/24 MY and at the same time became the lowest since 2016/17 MY. At the same time, the sown area was reduced by 2%, and the yield by 18%.
The share of domestic processing of the harvest in 2024/25 MY remained high at 97% due to the cessation of active outflow of raw materials for export, while sunflower oil exports became minimal since 2026/17 MY (-24% compared to 2023/24 MY). Almost the entire season was marked by farmers’ restraint in selling sunflower seeds. Accordingly, sunflower meal exports were also minimal over the last three seasons (-27% compared to 2023/24 MY).
“In general, the 2024/25 marketing year can be characterized as a crisis, which led to a balance between limited resources and the desire to maintain Ukraine’s position in the global market for sunflower processing products,” UkrAgroConsult stated.
