The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, together with the international company Bayer and the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities, has launched a seed program that will provide free corn seeds for the spring sowing season to farmers in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions (excluding the temporarily occupied territories).
“This initiative is another step towards strengthening Ukraine’s food security in times of war, as it will allow farmers from the frontline and de-occupied territories to sow approximately 10 thousand hectares and harvest approximately 120 thousand tons of grain,” the Ministry of Agrarian Policy emphasized.
According to the ministry, to receive assistance, a farm must be registered in the State Agrarian Register (SAR) and cultivate from 5 hectares to 500 hectares in the specified areas.
Applications will be accepted from April 21 to April 30 or until the amount of assistance is exhausted. Each approved applicant will be able to receive up to 25 sowing units of corn seeds (1 sowing unit per 1 ha) depending on the area of land under cultivation. Seed distribution will begin in early May and will last approximately two weeks.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released the April World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, which provides updated forecasts for wheat and corn production, consumption, trade, and stocks for the 2024/25 marketing year.
Corn: world market
– Production: the forecast is increased by 0.9 million tons to 1 215.1 million tons. Increased production in the EU (+1.3 mln tonnes to 59.3 mln tonnes) due to higher harvests in Poland, Croatia, France and Germany, partially offset by lower production in Romania and Bulgaria.
– Trade: Exports are revised upward by 2.3 million tons to 188.7 million tons, mainly due to higher exports from the United States (+2.5 million tons to 64.8 million tons).
– Stocks: World ending stocks are lowered by 1.3 million tons to 287.7 million tons, reflecting a decrease in US stocks and an increase in stocks in South Korea and Pakistan.
One of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, JV Nibulon LLC, has started the spring crops sowing campaign, for which it will allocate 36 thou hectares, which corresponds to the area under spring crops last year – 37 thou hectares, the press service of the agricultural holding reported on Facebook.
According to the report, corn will be Nibulon’s flagship crop in the 2025 season, just like last year. In addition, the area under soybeans will be doubled and the area under sunflower will be halved. This is due to the price expectations for this year’s grain crops and the forecast of a better economic result.
“We are using seeds sparingly, with seeding rates of 55-70 thou/ha for corn, 350-500 thou/ha for soybeans, and 45 thou/ha for sunflower (Mykolaiv region). In particular, 800 tons of soybean seeds of our own production have been laid and prepared for sowing,” the agroholding said.
Sunflower sowing, which is starting earlier than planned due to the rapid rise in temperatures and soil moisture deficit, has started in the Mykolaiv cluster. After April 12, the company plans to start sowing corn in Cherkasy, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytsky regions. Given favorable conditions, Nibulon’s farmers expect to complete the sowing campaign by mid-May, as they have the technical capability to sow 2-2.5 thousand hectares per productive day.
Oleg Veselov, Director of Agricultural Production at Nibulon Oleg Veselov noted that there is not enough moisture in the soil in the regions of the agricultural holding’s presence, but there is hope for April and May precipitation, so the company expects the gross harvest of spring crops to be 180 thousand tons of corn, 25 thousand tons of soybeans, and 70 thousand tons of sunflower.
Nibulon added that winter crops in Mykolaiv region are in good and satisfactory condition.
Nibulon JV LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and complexes for receiving crops, a one-time storage capacity of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.
“Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries. In 2021, the grain trader exported the highest ever 5.64 mln tons of agricultural products and supplied record volumes to foreign markets in August – 0.7 mln tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 mln tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 mln tons.
Currently, the grain trader is operating at 32% of capacity, has set up a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines and had to move its headquarters from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.
Amid high corn prices, Ukrainian farmers have already exported about 1.8-1.9 million tons and are still maintaining good shipment rates, but the situation on the global market may soon change, according to the analytical cooperative Pusk, created within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council.
“Today, Ukrainian corn looks quite expensive on the global market. For example, we offer corn to the Spanish market at $257-260 per ton, while Argentine products are $10-15 cheaper at $245-248. As a result, the key consumers in the EU are not showing active demand. Moreover, in April, new batches of Argentine grain are expected to come in, which will put even more pressure on prices,” the analysts explained.
Experts pointed out that according to the satellite monitoring data, the soil moisture level in the so-called “small” states, which account for almost 45% of corn production, is decreasing in Brazil. If weather conditions continue to deteriorate, this could affect yields and trigger a new price increase.
“The climate in Brazil has a distinct seasonality: first, it rains heavily, then there is a long heat wave without precipitation. If the moisture reserves are not accumulated sufficiently, corn will not form the necessary vegetative mass. As of the end of March, there is a downward trend in soil moisture, and the risk zone is gradually expanding. If this continues, we may see a new round of price growth in May,” experts predict.
At the same time, they note that there is positive news coming from Turkey: the country has reduced the duty on corn imports and opened a quota. It is the demand from this direction that is currently supporting the prices of Ukrainian corn. However, according to experts, the quota may be enough for a week, provided active trade.
“The current price of corn on CPT-port basis is over $230 per ton, which is actually the price for Turkey. As soon as Turkey exhausts its quota, the market may drop to $215-220 in April, which is in line with seasonal patterns. Against this background, farmers should carefully weigh the decision to sell,” the analysts emphasized.
Thus, the situation on the corn market remains ambiguous: in the short term, prices may fall, but in the medium term, under the negative scenario in Brazil, growth in May-June is possible.
“Ukrainian producers should closely monitor the weather conditions in South America and be prepared for both scenarios,” Pusk called for.
Corn became the most exported commodity in January-February 2025, with a share of 26.5% in agricultural exports and 16% of Ukraine’s total exports, the press service of the State Customs Service (SCS) reported on Telegram.
The agency noted that in January-February 2025, 4.7 million tons of corn were supplied to foreign markets, which amounted to $982 million in monetary terms.
The top five importers of Ukrainian corn are Spain – 933 thsd tonnes, Italy – 725 thsd tonnes, Turkey – 639 thsd tonnes, Egypt – 593 thsd tonnes and the Netherlands – 514 thsd tonnes.
In 2025, Agrotrade Agroholding will plant 24.32% of its acreage under corn, given its profitability in 2024, and refused to grow spring wheat, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
“Last season, favorable weather conditions allowed us to minimize the cost of corn processing. This year, we expect high profitability of the crop again, so we have increased the area under its sowing. Traditionally, we allocate significant areas for soybeans, as they show consistently high profitability. At the same time, this year we refused to plant spring wheat, as we sowed enough winter wheat, so we focused on other crops,” said Oleksandr Ovsyanyk, Director of Agrotrade’s Agricultural Department.
In 2025, the agroholding allocated 25.2% of its acreage for winter wheat, 24.32% for corn, 23.58% for soybeans, 17.84% for sunflower, 7.4% for winter rapeseed, 1.02% for mustard, 0.56% for industrial hemp, etc.
“We continue to work to optimize the structure of crops for sustainable development and efficient use of the land bank,” the agricultural holding assured.
Agrotrade Group is a vertically integrated holding company with a full agro-industrial cycle (production, processing, storage and trade of agricultural products). It cultivates over 70 thousand hectares of land in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava and Kharkiv regions. The company’s main crops are sunflower, corn, winter wheat, soybeans and rapeseed. It has its own network of elevators with a one-time storage capacity of 570 thousand tons.
The group also produces hybrid seeds of corn and sunflower, barley, and winter wheat. In 2014, a seed plant with a capacity of 20 thousand tons of seeds per year was built on the basis of Kolos seed farm (Kharkiv region). In 2018, Agrotrade launched its own brand Agroseeds on the market.
The founder of Agrotrade is Vsevolod Kozhemiako.
