Ukraine's winter wheat sowing 15% complete, rapeseed finished

Ukraine’s winter sowing campaign progressed to 15% complete, while the planting of winter rapeseeds was finished in the week ending September 26, according to official government data seen by Agricensus Wednesday.

In many regions of Ukraine, farmers were still forced to suspend field work due to long-term precipitation, however, the optimal time for the sowing of winter crops has not been missed.

In mid-September the soil moisture has been one of the most productive in the last 10 years, according to the expert evaluation of the local meteo-center.

This creates a good basis for the future crop, as Ukraine's wheat crop production usually makes up the bulk of the winter crop with around 98%.

Farmers are expected to sow 3.9 million hectares of wheat, 21% less than last year’s area, due to temporary occupation by Russian forces, military operations, and mining of fields.

However, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy expects an increase in areas under winter crops compared to its earlier estimate due to the de-occupation of some territories.

Winter wheat was planted on 622,100 ha, which is 16% of the total area projected for sowing.

The overall pace of sowing is 13 percentage points behind the previous year.

Winter barley was sown on 64,500 ha or 10% of the projected area for planting, roughly on par with last year's pace.

Winter rapeseeds sowing finished with 960,600 ha or 100% completed, which is 9 percentage points above the figure seen a year ago.

The Ministry report predicts that the high price of the oilseed is likely to see actual planted area come in well above the outlook.