As of November 10, 2026, Ukrainian farmers had harvested 10.71 million metric tons of sunflowers, which is 22.8% higher than the figure for the same date last year, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
According to the ministry, sunflowers were harvested from an area of 4.80 million hectares, or 91.6% of the projected area. The average yield is 22.3 centners per hectare, compared to 18.9 centners per hectare a year earlier.
Compared to November 7, 2025, the crop’s yield increased by 18%, while the area threshed rose by 4%.
Last year, as of the same date, Ukrainian farmers harvested 8.73 million metric tons of sunflowers from an area of 4.61 million hectares. Thus, this year’s gross harvest already exceeds the corresponding figure for the previous season by approximately 1.99 million metric tons.
The main factor behind the increase in production was higher yields, while the expansion of threshed acreage provided additional growth.
Sunflowers remain Ukraine’s primary oilseed crop and the main raw material for enterprises in the oil and fat industry. Sunflower oil production is one of the key sectors of Ukrainian agricultural exports.
The increase in the gross sunflower harvest creates an additional raw material base for oil extraction plants. At the same time, actual processing and export volumes will depend on plant capacity utilization, energy supply, logistics, and market conditions.
As of November 10, Ukrainian farmers had harvested a total of 17.91 million metric tons of major oilseeds—sunflower, soybeans, and rapeseed.
Original source: Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine, November 10, 2026.
As of November 3, 2026, Ukrainian farmers had harvested 10.34 million metric tons of sunflowers, which is 23.5% higher than the figure at the end of October 2025, while the gross soybean harvest fell by 18% to 3.23 million metric tons, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
According to the ministry, sunflowers were harvested from an area of 4.65 million hectares, or 88.7% of the projected area. The average yield for the crop was 22.2 centners per hectare, compared to 18.8 centners per hectare last year.
Thus, sunflower yields increased by approximately 18%, which was the main factor behind the growth in the crop’s gross harvest.
At the same time, the area harvested for sunflowers increased by 4.6%, or approximately 206,000 hectares.
Meanwhile, soybean production showed a negative trend. As of November 3, farmers had harvested 3.23 million metric tons from an area of 1.49 million hectares, or 92.9% of the projected area.
Compared to preliminary data as of October 31, 2025, the gross soybean harvest decreased by 18%. The harvested area decreased by 11.4%, and the average yield fell from 23.4 to 21.6 ts/ha, or by 7.7%.
Rapeseed, the harvest of which has already been completed in Ukraine, showed positive trends.
The total harvest of winter and spring rapeseed amounted to 3.90 million metric tons from an area of 1.33 million hectares. This is 17.4% higher than the 2025 figure.
The average rapeseed yield increased from 26.0 to 29.3 centners per hectare, or by 12.7%.
Overall, the harvest of Ukraine’s three main oilseed crops—sunflower, rapeseed, and soybeans—reached 17.47 million metric tons.
Compared to preliminary figures as of October 31, 2025, when 15.63 million metric tons of oilseeds had been harvested, the current result is approximately 11.8% higher. At the same time, these figures reflect different calendar dates and stages of the harvest campaign.
Oilseeds are an important component of Ukraine’s agricultural exports and serve as a raw material base for oil extraction plants, feed producers, and biofuel manufacturers.
The increase in sunflower and rapeseed yields creates additional opportunities to utilize processing capacities, while the decline in soybean production may affect the volume of raw materials available for domestic processing and export.
Sources: Ministry of Agrarian Policy, operational statistics as of November 3, 2026; Ministry of Economy, harvest statistics as of October 31, 2025.
As of October 27, 2026, Ukrainian agricultural producers had harvested 16.91 million metric tons of major oilseeds, including sunflower, soybeans, and rapeseed, which is approximately 11.7% higher than the figure for the same date last year. According to data from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, production of sunflower and rapeseed increased, while the gross harvest of soybeans decreased.
Sunflowers account for the largest share of oilseed crops; as of the reporting date, 9.83 million metric tons had been harvested from an area of 4.44 million hectares, or 85% of the projected area.
Compared to the figure as of October 31, 2025, the sunflower harvest increased by 17.5%, or approximately 1.46 million metric tons.
At the same time, the harvested area remained virtually unchanged, indicating that higher yields played a decisive role.
The average sunflower yield reached 22.1 centners per hectare, compared to 18.8 centners per hectare last year, an increase of 17.4%.
The harvest of winter and spring rapeseed has also been completed in Ukraine. The gross harvest totaled 3.90 million metric tons from an area of 1.33 million hectares.
Compared to last year’s figure of 3.32 million metric tons, rapeseed production increased by 17.4%.
The average yield rose from 26.0 to 29.3 centners per hectare, or by 12.7%, while the harvested area grew by 4.2%.
The situation on the soybean market is different.
As of October 27, farmers had harvested 3.18 million metric tons of soybeans from an area of 1.47 million hectares, representing 91% of the projected area.
By comparison, 3.94 million metric tons of soybeans had been harvested by October 31 of last year.
Thus, the current gross harvest is 19.2% lower than last year’s figure. This decline is due to both a 12.8% reduction in the harvested area and a 7.3% decrease in average yield, down to 21.7 centners per hectare.
Despite the positive trends for sunflower and rapeseed, the soybean harvest results indicate uneven development in the Ukrainian oilseed market.
Sunflower remains the primary raw material for the Ukrainian oil and fat industry. An increase in its production potentially creates additional opportunities for utilizing processing facilities’ capacity and exporting sunflower oil.
Rapeseed and soybeans are also important export crops and are used in the production of vegetable oils, feed ingredients, and biofuel feedstocks.
However, the final figures for sunflower and soybeans will be determined after the harvest campaign is completed.
The increase in yields was the main factor behind the rise in the gross harvest of major agricultural crops in Ukraine in 2026.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the average yield of grains and legumes as of October 13 reached 49.1 centners per hectare, compared to 43.5 centners per hectare a year earlier.
The most notable positive trends among major crops were observed in sunflowers, wheat, rapeseed, and barley.
Sunflower yields rose by 17.7%—to 21.6 centners per hectare, compared to 18.4 centners per hectare a year earlier. While the harvested area decreased by 12.1%, the gross harvest still increased by 3.4%—to 7.44 million metric tons.
Wheat yields rose by 13.2% to 51.1 ts/ha, which led to a 14.8% increase in the gross harvest to 26.15 million metric tons.
As for rapeseed, the yield rose by 12.4%—to 29.2 centners per hectare—and the gross harvest increased by 17.1%, to 3.88 million metric tons.
Barley yielded an average of 44.3 centners per hectare, compared to 39.7 centners per hectare last year, meaning the yield increased by 11.8%. The gross harvest increased by 22.3% to 6.55 million metric tons.
Peas also showed positive trends: the yield increased by 12.3%, and the gross harvest by 25.1%.
The situation is different for soybeans and sugar beets. Soybean yields fell by 4.5% to 21.9 centners per hectare, while sugar beet yields also declined by approximately 4.5% to about 500 centners per hectare.
Thus, in 2026, the growth in gross yield for a number of key crops will be driven primarily not by an expansion of cultivated areas, but by increased production efficiency per hectare.
Source: Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
As of October 13, 2026, Ukrainian farmers had harvested approximately 13.9 million metric tons of oilseeds, which is 2.1% more than on the same date last year.
Sunflowers and rapeseed accounted for the bulk of the harvest, while the soybean harvest remains below last year’s level so far.
Sunflower harvests totaled 7.44 million metric tons from 3.44 million hectares, or 66% of the projected area. Despite a 12.1% reduction in the harvested area, the gross harvest was 3.4% higher than last year’s thanks to an increase in yield to 21.6 centners per hectare, up from 18.4 centners per hectare.
Rapeseed production totaled 3.88 million metric tons from 1.33 million hectares. This is 17.1% more than last year. The average yield is 29.2 centners per hectare, compared to 26 centners per hectare.
Soybeans yielded 2.56 million metric tons from 1.17 million hectares, or 73% of the projected area. Compared to last year, the gross harvest is 16.9% lower, and the yield decreased to 21.9 centners per hectare, down from 22.9 centners per hectare.
Among late-season crops, the corn harvest has accelerated sharply. Over the past week, the gross harvest increased from 1.6 million to 3.49 million metric tons. A total of 589,400 hectares, or 13% of the projected area, has been threshed, with an average yield of 59.1 centners per hectare.
Although less corn had been harvested by mid-October than a year ago, its yield is already 7.8% higher than last year’s.
The sugar beet harvest is lagging behind. 1.58 million metric tons have been harvested from 31,600 hectares, or 19% of the projected area. A year earlier, by the same date, 4.72 million metric tons had been harvested from 90,000 hectares.
The buckwheat and millet harvests are nearing completion. Buckwheat has been threshed on 91% of the area, with 55,600 metric tons harvested. Millet has been harvested on 88% of the area, with a gross yield of 81,300 metric tons.
Source: Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, data as of October 13, 2026.
According to Experts.news, Ukraine could account for about 31.3% of global sunflower oil exports in the 2026/27 marketing year, according to calculations by Open4Business based on the September forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
According to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service report Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade, published on September 11, 2026, Ukrainian sunflower oil exports are projected to reach 5 million metric tons, while global exports are expected to total 15.968 million metric tons.
Thus, nearly one in every three metric tons of sunflower oil supplied to the global market may be of Ukrainian origin.
In the previous 2025/26 marketing year, Ukraine exported approximately 4.036 million metric tons of sunflower oil out of total global exports of about 13.51 million metric tons. At that time, Ukraine’s share was about 29.9%. In the new season, this figure may increase by approximately 1.4 percentage points.
The USDA expects Ukraine to remain the world’s second-largest exporter of sunflower oil after Russia. Russian shipments are projected at 5.1 million metric tons, accounting for approximately 31.9% of global exports.
Together, Ukraine and Russia could supply about 10.1 million metric tons to foreign markets, or more than 63% of total global sunflower oil exports.
Argentina will remain the third-largest exporter, with projected shipments of about 2.05 million metric tons, accounting for approximately 12.8% of global trade. Turkey is expected to export about 1.1 million metric tons, and the European Union—about 850,000 metric tons.
The growth in Ukrainian exports will be driven by a recovery in the sunflower harvest and increased capacity utilization at processing plants. The USDA forecasts sunflower seed production in Ukraine for the 2026/27 marketing year at 13 million metric tons, compared to 10.7 million metric tons in the previous season.
Sunflower oil production, according to the agency’s estimates, will increase to 5.418 million metric tons from 4.515 million metric tons in the 2025/26 marketing year, or by approximately 20%.
At the same time, domestic consumption of sunflower oil in Ukraine is expected to reach about 470,000 metric tons, so the bulk of the additional production will be directed toward exports.
Overall, the USDA forecasts global sunflower oil exports to grow by approximately 18%—from 13.51 million metric tons in the previous season to 15.968 million metric tons in the 2026/27 marketing year.
The increase in supply will largely be driven by a recovery in production in the Black Sea region, primarily in Ukraine and Russia. At the same time, imports are expected to rise from the largest consumers of vegetable oils, notably India and China.
Ukraine traditionally remains one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of sunflower oil. A distinctive feature of the Ukrainian industry is the high proportion of domestic seed processing, which means that exports consist primarily of higher-value-added products—oil and meal—rather than raw materials.
Source: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade, September 11, 2026: official USDA report.
