This year’s soybean harvest is expected to reach 3.7–4 million metric tons, and the sunflower harvest—11.5–12 million metric tons—but closer to the upper end of that range, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky told reporters on Thursday.
“As for soybeans, we think it will be 4 (million metric tons), and for sunflowers, we also think it will be 12 (million metric tons). That means we can talk about 20 million metric tons of oilseeds,” the minister noted, recalling that the rapeseed harvest totaled 4 million metric tons.
According to him, the upper-end estimate for the soybean harvest is due to the fact that the area planted with this crop is larger than what was declared.
Vysotsky clarified that 80% of the sunflower acreage has already been harvested, and over 85% of the soybean acreage, so the harvest will effectively be completed by the end of October.
As for corn, he said that more than 20% of the area has been harvested so far, but the baseline forecast of 30 million metric tons may be revised downward due to lower yields.
“It’s difficult to make a forecast for corn… There are many reports from various regions indicating that actual yields, for example in the Chernihiv region—which is very important for corn production—are significantly lower than planned,” the minister explained.
He noted that a more realistic assessment of the harvest will be possible once 50–60% of the area has been harvested.
“For now, we’re aiming for 30 million metric tons, but we don’t rule out that this figure may be revised downward. Well, let’s say 25 million metric tons are guaranteed, from our point of view,” Vysotsky concluded.
He reminded that the wheat and barley harvests are complete, with yields of 25.5 million metric tons and 6 million metric tons, respectively.
CORN, HARVEST, MINISTRY OF AGRARIAN POLICY, SOYBEANS, sunflowers
