The agricultural production department of one of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, Nibulon JV LLC, has fertilized winter crops on 7820 hectares, which is 48.3% of the total area planted for the 2025 harvest, the agricultural holding’s press service reports on Facebook.
“Currently, we are actively applying ammonium nitrate, one of the most effective nitrogen fertilizers that provides plants with the necessary macronutrients for healthy growth and development. Timely application of this fertilizer significantly affects the final yield of winter crops,” the agricultural holding explained.
Nibulon plans to fertilize a total area of 16.2 thou hectares with ammonium nitrate, including 8.6 thou hectares of winter wheat and 7.6 thou hectares of winter rapeseed. In addition to ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate will be added to improve plant nutrition efficiency.
Currently, winter crops have been fertilized on a total area of 7,820 hectares, including 5,602 hectares in Mykolaiv cluster, 1,970 hectares in Central cluster and 248 hectares in Kamianets-Podilskyi cluster.
After fertilizing winter crops, the fields will be harrowed and plant protection products will be applied.
“The implementation of these agrotechnical measures in the complex will ensure the creation of optimal conditions for the growth and development of winter crops, which, in turn, will help to increase their yield and maintain high quality products,” the agricultural holding summarized.
Nibulon JV LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and crop reception complexes, a capacity for simultaneous storage 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 volume of 5.64 million tons of agricultural products, reaching record volumes of supplies to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Nibulon’s losses due to Russia’s full-scale military invasion in 2022 exceeded $416 million.
Currently, the grain trader is operating at 32% of capacity, has created a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines, and was forced to move its headquarters from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.
Ukraine’s grain harvest in 2025-2026 marketing year will be at the level of 55-65 million tons, grain exports – 40-50 million tons, and oilseeds harvest will also exceed last year’s and is expected to be at the level of 24 million tons, predicts Sergiy Feofilov, general director of information and analytical agency UkrAgroConsult.
“Rapeseed and sunflower will remain the most marginal, while corn will show stable margin growth due to the recovery of demand,” he explained in an interview published on the agency’s website.
The expert believes that in 2025 agrarians will emphasize the development of processing and increase exports of value-added products (oil, meal, flour, fodder), which will reduce dependence on logistics costs and increase revenues.
According to Feofilov, the focus of trade will shift to North Africa, Asia and the Middle East, where demand for grains and oilseeds is growing, and Ukraine can respond to these challenges by expanding its markets.
The head of “UkrAgroConsult” expressed confidence that this year the key issues for Ukrainian farmers will remain the increase in the share of high value-added products in exports, trends in the growth of lending to farms, adaptation of agricultural technologies to climate change, rising prices for resources and increasing number of sudden requests.
The issues of security, energy independence, increasing the profitability of farmers, adaptation to environmental standards, harmonization of Ukrainian legislation to European legislation, international cooperation, restoration and improvement of logistics chains will also be relevant, summarized Feofilov.
In 2024, one of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, Nibulon JV LLC, harvested 260 thsd tonnes of grain, up 100 thsd tonnes (62.5%) from a year earlier, the agricultural holding’s press service reported on Facebook.
“This season, Nibulon has positive dynamics of gross grain harvest compared to previous years. This is due to the implemented organizational changes, changes in the structure of sown areas, production technologies and a complete rethinking of the company’s agricultural sector,” explained Oleg Veselov, Director of Agricultural Production at the agricultural holding.
According to him, 14 production branches have been reorganized into four clusters, and the company has switched from traditional (plow) to lean technologies (Strip-Till, Mini-till). The structure of sown areas was completely reorganized: winter crops were moved to the southern cluster, where they have no alternative, and high-yielding corn and soybeans were moved to the central and western clusters.
“This made it possible to increase yields, use available resources more efficiently, and reduce the number of technological operations, which in turn led to a decrease in fuel consumption and a reduction in harmful emissions,” Veselov emphasized.
Nibulon noted that the agricultural machinery purchased in the 2024 season operated with 30% higher productivity and was controlled by monitoring systems. The agricultural holding was also able to integrate yield data into the Cropwise monitoring system online and respond quickly to changes, which helped to increase crop productivity.
Nibulon JV LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and crop reception complexes, 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 million tons of agricultural products, reaching record volumes of supplies to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Nibulon’s losses due to Russia’s full-scale military invasion in 2022 exceeded $416 million.
Currently, the grain trader is operating at 32% of capacity, has created a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines, and was forced to move its headquarters from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.
Agrotrade has completed sowing winter wheat for the 2025 harvest in the fields of Poltava, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions, covering a total of 14.6 thousand hectares, the company’s press service reports.
According to the report, the work went according to plan and all areas have sprouts. In the fields where winter crops were sown early, the plants are already highly developed. And where the crops were sown in the optimal periods, they are in the early stages of development.
“To reduce the cost of growing technology, we have changed our approach to choosing a predecessor crop. Previously, we sowed large areas of winter wheat where we grew winter rape. Under these conditions, it requires herbicide and insecticide protection, which costs about $42-47 per hectare. This year, we reduced such crops and planted soybeans and sunflower on the main area. This way we reduced the cost of autumn wheat protection,” said Oleksandr Ovsyanyk, Director of Agrotrade’s Agricultural Department.
The agricultural holding also implemented all measures related to technological control of sowing. The Online Agricultural Operations Management Center monitored the quality parameters of field work: sowing depth, seeding rate and fertilizer application, speed of machinery, and compliance with field contours to achieve high quality sowing and avoid resource overruns.
We remind you that winter wheat ranks first in terms of area among all crops grown by the group.
As reported, on August 13, Agrotrade started the sowing campaign of winter crops for the 2025 harvest, allocating 27.9 thou hectares for the crops. The area under winter rapeseed increased by 1.3 thou hectares compared to last year to 12.5 thou hectares.
The 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. Its main crops are sunflower, corn, winter wheat, soybeans and rapeseed. It has its own network of elevators with a simultaneous 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.
Vsevolod Kozhemiako is the founder and CEO of Agrotrade.
Agrotrade Agroholding has completed harvesting industrial hemp, which it grew on an area of about 230 hectares in Chernihiv region, the company’s press service reported on its Facebook page.
According to the report, 2024 was the final year of the agricultural holding’s hemp cultivation trials. The company has determined the best technologies and herbicide plant protection products, and understood the technical features of working with this crop.
“By changing approaches to seed harvesting and processing, we have obtained very good quality grain indicators: the oil content is high, and the acidity and peroxide values are low. The yields were slightly lower than we expected. The hemp was dry and the fiber was easily separated from the bast, so technical support during harvesting was the biggest challenge. The reason is that you can’t just pick up any harvester at any time: you need to know exactly what kind of hemp is best for what time and what kind of harvester will be optimal. These are the technical features of hemp that we have figured out,” says Oleksandr Ovsyanyk, Director of Agrotrade’s Agricultural Department.
“This year, we started harvesting later to get higher quality seeds. Due to the peculiarities of the variety and the year in general, threshing took longer than expected.
The agricultural holding emphasized that the Ukrainian market is not yet ready to consume large quantities of hemp grain, so this year’s harvest will be exported. If it can be sold profitably and in large volumes, the company will consider expanding the area.
Agrotrade Group is a vertically integrated holding company with a full agro-industrial cycle (production, processing, storage and trade of agricultural products). The company cultivates over 70 thousand hectares of land in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava and Kharkiv regions. Its 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.
Vsevolod Kozhemiako is the founder and CEO of Agrotrade.
As of October 15, farmers in all regions of Ukraine sowed 4.75 million hectares of winter crops, up from 3.8 million hectares last week, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reports.
According to the report, winter crops are being sown in all regions. In total, almost 3.7 million hectares have been sown. In particular, winter wheat has been sown on 3.3 million hectares (2.6 million hectares a week earlier), barley on 331.7 thousand hectares (208.7 thousand hectares), rye on 51.6 thousand hectares (45.9 thousand hectares), and rapeseed on 1 million hectares (986.4 thousand hectares).
According to the Ministry, the leaders in sowing winter crops are Poltava region, which sowed 224.5 thousand hectares (90.3%), Ternopil region – 176 thousand hectares (89.3%) and Khmelnytsky region – 213.2 thousand hectares (88.8%). Farmers in 11 regions have completed sowing winter rapeseed.
As of the same date a year earlier, Ukraine sowed 4.5 mln ha of winter crops, 3.018 mln ha of wheat, 260 thou ha of barley, and 63 thou ha of rye.