Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Kernel harvested 1.5 mln tons of corn, increasing yield by almost 10%

Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural holdings, sold 499,000 tons of grain and oilseeds in July-September 2026 (FY, July 2025-June 2026), sold 499,000 tons of grain and oilseeds, with wheat accounting for 89% of the volume, the agricultural holding reported in its quarterly report.

“Profitability was further supported by favorable price conditions on the grain market, which helped to compensate for uneven yields in different regions,” the agricultural holding noted.

The agricultural holding named unfavorable weather conditions, which shifted the development phases of both grain and oilseeds, among the main features of the 2025 season. Two late spring frosts affected the growth of winter and early spring crops. A prolonged cool spring and summer with sharp fluctuations in day and night temperatures slowed plant growth in the northern regions. In the central regions, a constant shortage of soil moisture and limited rainfall hampered crop development and contributed to their premature wilting and early ripening.

According to published statistics, Kernel allocated 172,000 hectares to corn in the 2025 season, which is 98% more than last year. and thanks to a yield of 9.2 t/ha compared to 8.4 t/ha a year earlier, a gross harvest of 1,584 thousand tons was obtained, which is 18% more than last year.

In 2025, 94,000 hectares were planted with wheat (+1% compared to 2024), with a yield of 5.9 tons/hectare (-3%), resulting in 552,000 tons (-1%). The agricultural holding allocated 46 thousand hectares (-31%) for sunflowers, with a yield of 2.7 t/ha (-4%) and a gross harvest of 124 thousand tons (-33%). The area under soybeans was reduced by 44% to 22,000 hectares this year, while the yield increased by 7% compared to last year and amounted to 2.3 tons/hectare, which allowed for a gross yield of 54,000 tons (-65%). In 2025, the agricultural holding allocated 22,000 hectares for the cultivation of rapeseed, other secondary crops, and fallow land, which is 44% less than last year’s volumes.

As of the end of September, Kernel had completed the harvesting of wheat, sunflower, and soybeans on 100% of its production areas, while corn was harvested from 87% of the areas.

At the same time, the agricultural holding completed the sowing of winter crops for the 2026 harvest and sowed winter wheat on 84,000 hectares and winter rapeseed on 38,000 hectares.

Before the war, Kernel was the world’s leading producer of sunflower oil (about 7% of global production) and its exporter (about 12%). It is one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. In addition, it is engaged in the cultivation and sale of agricultural products.

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New free course from Astarta on pea biology: what agronomists need to know for high yields

A new free certified course has been launched on the AgriAcademy educational platform: ‘Peas. Biological characteristics of the crop’, dedicated to one of Ukraine’s key legumes. The curriculum has been developed by specialists from the agro-industrial holding company Astarta.

What is the course about?

The new training module takes a detailed look at the biological characteristics of peas that determine their yield potential. Students will learn:

  • what temperature conditions are required for seed germination;
  • how light requirements and moisture levels affect the initial stages of development;
  • how the biology of the crop shapes the future harvest and what to look for during cultivation.

The course will be useful for both practicing agronomists and managers, students or farmers who want to improve their approach to pea cultivation technology.

Who created the course?

The lead expert is Volodymyr Kuryachiy, one of the most renowned agronomists in the Poltava region with over 40 years of experience in production. At the Astarta-Kyiv agricultural holding, he headed the crop production department of the Dovzhenko Agricultural Firm for over ten years and has been working as the chief agronomist of the Poltava region since 2019.

The following people also worked on the course:

  • Olga Veiler – developed an interactive presentation;
  • Svitlana Semenyuk, who developed the course methodology.

Certificate and accessibility

All AgriAcademy courses, including this one, are free of charge.

Students receive:

  • interactive presentations;
  • video lectures;
  • practical assignments;
  • the opportunity to take a final test and receive a certificate.

The course is available at any time, allowing farmers to study at their convenience without taking time off from their daily work.

Why is this important?

The demand for legumes is growing both due to the development of export markets and the need to restore soil fertility. Peas remain one of the most effective crops in crop rotation, and a proper understanding of their biology directly affects yield stability even in difficult climatic conditions.

The new course from Astarta and AgriAcademy provides agricultural producers with practical, scientifically based knowledge that can be applied as early as next season.

Registration is now open!

Farmers can join via the link on the AgriAcademy platform and start learning immediately after registration.

Other training courses from Astarta specialists are also available on the platform:

Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding in Ukraine, a public European company that conducts socially responsible business and produces food products with a focus on global markets. Its main activities are concentrated in crop production, the sugar industry, dairy farming, soybean processing, grain logistics, and bioenergy.

AgriAcademy is a free online learning platform created on the initiative of the EBRD as part of its food security support programme in Ukraine. Its goal is to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainable development of agriculture, which has suffered significant losses due to the war.

The creation and management of the platform (including the development of courses, educational tours, etc.) is supported and financed by the EBRD, as well as:

  • The EBRD’s Multilateral Donor Account for Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth in Ukraine (donors: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union as the largest donor);
  • The Republic of Ireland through the EBRD Small Business Promotion Fund (other donors to the fund: Italy, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Taipei China and the United States);
  • The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

 

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In Ukraine, 60% of early grain crops have been harvested, with yields lower than in 2024

As of August 22, farmers harvested 27.25 million tons of early grain and leguminous crops from 6.7 million hectares, which is 60% of the area sown with these crops, according to the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture.

Last year, as of August 23, 32.02 million tons of grain were harvested from 8.0403 million hectares, meaning that this year’s figures are 14.9% and 16.7% lower, respectively.

According to the Ministry of Economy, 21.01 million tons of wheat were harvested from 4 million 873.1 thousand hectares (last year – 21.74 million tons from 4 million 858.9 thousand hectares), barley – 4.97 million tons from 1 million 304.6 thousand hectares (5.5 million tons from 1 million 399.2 thousand hectares).

The average yield of these crops this year is 4.31 tons/ha and 3.81 tons/ha, respectively, which is 3.5% and 3.3% less than last year’s figures.

At the same time, this year’s pea harvest is already higher than last year’s – 0.58 million tons from 258,600 hectares compared to 0.468 million tons from 207,600 hectares, and the yield is 12.8% higher at 2.5 tons/hectare.

Other grains and legumes were threshed on an area of 260.6 thousand hectares, with a yield of 685.3 million tons (0.83 million tons).

It is noted that among the leaders are, in particular, the Odessa region, which harvested 3.44 million tons from an area of 1 million 083.4 thousand hectares, Kirovohrad region harvested 2.20 million tons from an area of 533.4 thousand hectares, and Vinnytsia region harvested 2.385 million tons from an area of 423.7 thousand hectares.

According to the ministry, as of August 22, the rapeseed harvest amounted to 3.163 million tons from an area of 1 million 283 thousand hectares, while last year on August 23, it amounted to 3.36 million tons from 1 million 227.7 thousand hectares, and the average yield is 7% lower than last year’s on this date and amounts to 2.5 tons/ha.

Sunflower harvesting has begun in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, and soybean harvesting has begun in the Kharkiv region.

As reported, in its Inflation Report published at the end of July, the National Bank of Ukraine lowered its forecast for this year’s grain harvest from 61.7 million tons to 57.9 million tons, and for oilseeds from 22 million tons to 21 million tons.

The NBU recalled that last year, the grain harvest in Ukraine fell to 56.2 million tons from 59.8 million tons in 2023, while oilseeds fell from 21.7 million tons to 20 million tons.

According to forecasts by Deputy Minister of Economy Taras Vysotsky, this year’s grain harvest will be around 56 million tons, the same as last year.

 

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IMK achieved its highest yield in 18 years

The IMK agricultural holding has completed its wheat harvest and threshed 153,000 tons of grain from 20,700 hectares, the holding’s press service reported on Facebook.

The company noted that in the 2025 season, the average wheat yield was 7.4 tons/ha, which is a record for all 18 years of the company’s operations and exceeded the average wheat yield in Ukraine by 71%. IMK referred to data from the Ministry of Economy, according to which as of August 14, 2025, the average wheat yield in Ukraine was 4.32 tons/ha.

“This season has shown that true professionalism is measured not only by equipment and technology, but also by the ability of the team to work cohesively in the most difficult conditions. We managed not only to maintain stability, but also to once again break the yield record with 7.4 tons per hectare,” said Bogdan Kryvitsky, IMK’s chief operating officer.

He thanked the employees of the Sumy cluster, who achieved a yield of 8.5 tons per hectare.

IMK is an integrated group of companies operating in the Sumy, Poltava, and Chernihiv regions (northern and central Ukraine) in the crop production, elevators, and warehousing segments. The land bank is 116,000 hectares, storage capacity is 554,000 tons, and the 2024 harvest is expected to be 864,000 tons.

IMK ended 2024 with a net profit of $54.54 million, compared to a net loss of $21.03 million in 2023. Revenue increased by 52% to $211.29 million, gross profit quadrupled to $109.10 million, and normalized EBITDA increased 25-fold to $86.11 million.

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Agro-Region achieved record yields

Agro-Region agricultural holding has completed the harvest of winter crops with yields exceeding the planned targets and the average yield for the last five years, the holding’s press service reported on Facebook.

According to the report, the agricultural holding threshed more than 12.5 thousand hectares, with an average yield of winter wheat across the group of companies at 6.3 tons/ha and winter rapeseed at 3.23 tons/ha. At the same time, three clusters achieved an average winter wheat yield of over 7.5 tons/ha.

“The end of the growing season for winter wheat and the filling period were favorable, as a result of which a yield of 9-9.5 tons/ha was achieved on a significant number of fields,” said Chief Agronomist Yuriy Lysak.
At the same time, the Western cluster had the highest yield of winter rapeseed — 3.71 tons/ha.

“The rapeseed crops were damaged by frost, and the crop needed time to recover. Overall, the year was cooler than last year, so we started threshing later,” Lysak added.
Agro-Region specified that in the 2025 season, the harvest started two weeks later due to weather conditions. All of the company’s clusters made maximum use of their own equipment, which has been updated in recent years.

Agro-Region has a land bank of 39,000 hectares in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, and Khmelnytskyi regions. It specializes in crop production. It comprises 11 companies grouped into four crop clusters. It has two elevators: one in Boryspil with a capacity of 73,000 tons and one in Myropil with a capacity of 52,000 tons.

Agro-Region’s annual harvest of grain and oilseeds is 200,000 tons.

In April 2021, the Swedish company Lobiu Sala AB, owned by former Ukrainian Minister of Economy Aivaras Abromavičius, received permission from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to purchase the Swedish company Agro Region Stockholm Holding, which manages the Agro-Region group of companies in Ukraine.

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Agrotrade’s winter wheat yield exceeded target by 50%

Agrotrade agricultural holding company has achieved a record winter wheat yield in the Chernihiv region of 8.4 tons/ha of net weight, or 150% of the planned target, according to the company’s press service on Facebook.

“High yields were also recorded in one of the fields in the Sumy region — 8.15 tons/ha, or 136% of the target. And this is only 20 km from the border with the enemy. This is further evidence of the resilience of our team and the effectiveness of agricultural technologies even in difficult conditions,” the statement said.

Agrotrade emphasized that these results are not accidental, but the result of systematic work. The agro-industrial department analyzed previous seasons, reviewed cultivation technology, and made specific adjustments from nutrition to protection, the release said.

“This year, we have improved our winter wheat cultivation technologies. We used fractional nitrogen application, double fungicide protection of the ear, and complete control of grass weeds across the entire area — this is not a very common but extremely effective practice. We removed all the weeds, leaving only the crop, and this yielded results. In addition, we update our variety portfolio every year, introducing varieties that perform consistently well in our conditions. This season, everything came together: technology, preparation, and weather conditions,” explained Oleksandr Ovsianyk, director of the agro-industrial department at Agrotrade, as quoted in the report.

In the 2025 season, Agrotrade is growing winter wheat on 14,500 hectares in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava, and Kharkiv regions. Currently, more than 80% of the production area has been threshed. The winter harvest will soon be complete, the agricultural holding concluded.

The Agrotrade group of companies is a vertically integrated holding company with a full agricultural cycle (production, processing, storage, and trade of agricultural products). It cultivates over 70,000 hectares of land in the 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 total storage capacity of 570,000 tons.

The group also produces hybrid seeds of corn, sunflower, barley, and winter wheat. In 2014, a seed plant with a capacity of 20,000 tons of seeds per year was built on the basis of the Kolos seed farm (Kharkiv region). In 2018, Agrotrade launched its own brand, Agroseeds.

The founder of Agrotrade is Vsevolod Kozhemyako.

 

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