Ukraine's combined grain harvest to fall 8.5% this year

On April 19th, 2023, Petro Potapenko examines remains of unsold grain in storage of his farm in Ukraine's region. PHOTO AFP KIEV — Ukraine's combined grain and oilseed harvest is expected to be at 68 million tons this year, down about 8.5 percent from 2022, as shown in a recent forecast released on Thursday.

The Ukrainian Grain Association UGA forecast that this year's harvest would be 36 percent lower than the 2021 yield of about 106 million tons.

The UGA forecast that Ukraine will Sow about 19.5 million hectares of farmland this year, down from 25 million hectares in the previous year.

Ukraine's grain, oileeds exports may drop by third this year.

The association said it expects Ukraine to export 56.4 million tons of grain and oilseed in the current marketing year, which ends on June 30.

The forecast states that Ukraine could export 43.9 million tons of crops in the 2023 - 2024 marketing year.