Wet and cold weather prevents completion of sunflower and soybean harvest in Ukraine

Last week, Ukraine experienced rather wet and cold weather with little precipitation, which hindered the harvesting of late crops, so farmers were able to thresh only 5-6% of sunflower and soybean areas and 13% of corn in a week.

According to operational data from the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture, as of November 6, 43.63 million tons of grain and leguminous crops were harvested from 9.302 million hectares or 81% of the planned areas in Ukraine, with an average yield of 4.69 t/ha, while as of November 7, 2024, 49.938 million tons of grain and leguminous crops were harvested from 10.413 million hectares or 94% of the planned areas, with an average yield of 4.8 t/ha.

Currently, the following late crops have been collected:

• corn – 13.747 million tons from 53% of the area or 2.214 million hectares with a yield of 6.21 t/ha (last year, 20.245 million tons were threshed from 83% of the area with a yield of 6.06 t/ha);
• buckwheat – 82.3 thousand tons from 61 thousand hectares (88%) with a yield of 1.35 tons/hectare (99%; 127.2 thousand tons; 1.45 tons/hectare);
• millet – 61.5 thousand tons from 36.4 thousand hectares (68%) with a yield of 1.69 tons/hectare (93%; 160.25 thousand tons; 1.85 tons/hectare),
• sunflower – 8.729 million tons from 90% of the area or 4.61 million hectares with a yield of 1.89 tons/hectare (95%; 9.684 million tons; 2.06 tons/hectare);
• soybeans – 4.306 million tons from 84% of the area or 1.83 million hectares with a yield of 2.35 tons/hectare (96%; 5.82 million tons; 2.28 tons/hectare).

The harvesting of sugar beets is also underway, of which 7.949 million tons were harvested from 151 thousand hectares or 76% of the planned area as of November 6, with an average yield of 52.66 tons/hectare (87%; 10.7 million tons; 49.97 tons/hectare).

Weather forecasts promise lower temperatures and less precipitation this week, allowing producers to complete the harvest of sunflowers and soybeans and accelerate the harvest of corn.