Ukraine’s Poultry to Oilseeds Group, MHP, Says Dryness Hurting Autumn-Harvested Crops

Ukraine’s MHP says that yields for Ukraine’s corn harvest, as well as those for its soybean and sunflower crops, will be lower than expected due to dryness during July and August this season.

However, the group which cultivates 340,000 hectares of land, said that wheat and rapeseed have been seeing ‘high’ yields, with the group’s wheat output coming in at 6 tons per hectare – well above Ukraine’s nationwide average of 4 tons per hectare.

The group’s 127,000 hectares of corn have not been faring so well however. At 60% harvested, yields have been averaging 7.3 tons per hectare, significantly lower than the group’s yields of 9.3 tons per hectare it saw last year.

Ukraine has grown to become a major global grain supplier, including corn, however the country’s farm ministry set its estimate for this year’s corn harvest at 22.9 million tons, representing a 20% decline year on year, while many private analysts believe this estimate to be still too high.

MHP also stated that the harvest of its 50,000 hectares of sunflowers is now 98% completed and has resulted in yields of 3.2 tons per hectare – a slight decline from last year’s average yield of 3.4 tons per hectare, while it soybean harvest, which is also 98% completed is showing yields of 1.7 tons per hectare – down from last year’s average yield of 2.1 tons per hectare.

In addition to crop results, MHP also revealed that its poultry sales increased by 3.8% to 150,260 tons for the July-September quarter on the back of increased domestic sales, while exports fell by 22% in the face of trade disruptions between Ukraine and Russia.

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