Volodymyr Zyts farm in Southern Ukraine can be reached via A grassy fairway is marked with tire tracks. It only drives inside those shallow ruts and avoids veering too far, as doing so can be dangerous. of Explosive mines all over the field.
Tall grass grows where the rows are of The sunflower once bloomed. Zetus’ land has not been touched since the fall of 2021 when it was last workbook with wheat. Now, it’s a minefield left By the withdrawal of Russian forces.
Avoid Zaits official Warnings and mine this patch of Earth, determined not to lose a year’s harvest. expected to be 15% of It has 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres) of Farmland was saved.
Workers like Viktor Kostyuk is still spotting mines, but he’s ready for it start jars.
“we have to do it” says”Why are you afraid?”
Across Ukraine, the war has plunged grain growers into a ferocious dilemma. farmers in Regions now free of Russian occupation risk their lives to strip their lands of before explosives critical Spring planting season.
Even then, they have to cope with High production and transportation costs caused Because of the Russian blockade of Many of the Black Sea ports and recent restrictions that are nearby countries imposed on Ukrainian grain.
the dual The crisis is cutting off many farmers back on Crop sowing. In addition to jams in Shipping grain by land and sea creating losses, with expectations of (a) Reduction of 20% to 30% in Produce poor quality grain and crops and possibly thousands of Bankruptcies next yearaccording to industry insiders, Ukrainian government officials and international organizations.
“sharp reduction” of threatens grain crops global Pierre Vauthier said that food security head of Food and Agriculture Organization of Ukraine (FAO). “This is it main Everything everyone eats. That’s why it’s a file big they.”
more than year Since Russia invasionUkrainian agricultural industry began to see full impact of It’s called the “bread basket.” of the worldwhose supplies are affordable of Wheat, barley, and sunflower oil are staples for Africa, the Middle East, and other parts of Asia where people hungry.
faw says 90% of Agricultural businesses lost revenue and 12% reported land pollution with Mines. K resultcultivated land with Grain decreased last year to 11.6 million hectares (28.6 million acres) from 16 million hectares (about 40 million acres) in 2021. This is expected to decrease to 10.2 million hectares (25.2 million acres) year.
In the southern province of Kherson among the threat of missiles from sky and mines on land, farmers make the same, often tragic, calculation: risk They farm or lose their livelihoods.
the region in between highest wheat producing areas in Ukraine and the most complex. demining services are exhausted, with Infrastructure and civil homes priority over farmer.
But farmers can’t wait: April-May critical months of cultivation for corn, autumn months for wheat. This is because many are turning to lower cultivation costly oil seeds.
We have about 40 big farmers in our areaAnd almost everyone is not able to do that access Hanna Shostak Kuchmiak said, head of Vysokopillya administration which includes several villages in North of Kherson.
Zaiets is oneand Valery Shkurapat from the neighboring village of Ivanivka is the other.
Shostak Kuchmyak said: “Our heroes,who They were driving around picking up mines and bring them to our deminers.”
Neither cultivator felt they had a choice. Both knew that they would be insolvent next without harvesting this year.
Shkurapat, whose area is 2,500 hectares (over 6000 acres) of The land once grew peas, barley, millet, and sunflowers. appreciate it half can be cultivated.
Last month , one of His workers were killed and another injured while picking up Metal rocket remains.
“If we sow, if we sow crops, people They will have jobs, salaries, and the means to feed their families,” Shkurat said. “But if we don’t do anything, we won’t have anything.”
blockade of Russia of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports stripped the country of The advantage you once enjoyed over Export of other grains countries. In addition, transit costs, now four to six times higher From pre-war levels, grain production made it prohibitive expensive.
High costs of Only high quality fuel, fertilizer and seeds add to farmers’ problems. K resultMost of them must sell their pills at a loss.
Andrei Vadatorsky, CEO, said farmers are responding by reducing sowing of Nibulon, one of the largest Ukrainian grain shipping companies.
“no one pay attention to fact that already Less than 40% of the wheat (this year), and we expect 50% less corn seed in He said while drawing on Data from 3,000 farmers.
Pay nebulon once on average of $12 for shipping a ton of Grains from the southern port city of Odessa. Now he pays $80 to $100 each tonWadatowski said.
HarvEast CEO Dmytro Skornyakov said his agricultural company pays nearly $110 in Logistics costs for each export ton of corn.
It covers our expenses but it doesn’t give us He said “no profit”.
Negotiations are ongoing on Renewal of the UN-brokered agreement allowing Ukrainian grain to safely leave three Black Sea ports. However, shippers say the deal is not working out efficiently.
Russian inspections cause long waits times for Ships, piling up on Tolls and make a sea route expensive Unreliable, Ukrainian grain shippers say. Russia denies slowing down inspections.
“We’ve had some ships that have been waiting almost 80 days in the queue Wadatowski said of Nebulon. “Someone has to lose that money, whether the buyer or the owner of ship or merchant.
Transit routes across Europe are open even as Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary temporarily ban Ukrainian wheat, corn and other products. over Concerns about farmers’ profits.
But those methods are slow and costly. Shipping accounted for by sea for 75% of Ukrainian grain exports in start of the year.
Meanwhile, some farmers won’t risk sow their fields.
The land of Ole Oschalo in Potomkyne is drenched in water with Ammo. vast wheat farms reduced to a cemetery of Burnt equipment.
inside pounding-out Heaps lie grain shed of Wheat grains – the entire Oshkalo harvest before the war – are rotting in the sun.
“We can go on for last year,” he said. After that, he didn’t know. Hopes for government compensation.
“I can’t send (my workers) to a field that I work in know Mines and bombs, Oshalo said. To send someone to blow himself up up? I can’t do that.”
He encounters resistance from his employees, eager to do so earn wages.
“The tractor drivers We say, “We can go, we can sign A document stating that we take it full Oshalo said.
He told them it was too risky.
In the distanceHe can see the tractor equipped with Disc tiller, type of plow. “I wonder if this is Volodymyr Mikolayovich,” he said, referring to Zaiets.
“Whatever it takes for one of those discs to hit Mine and that’s it.”
This is what happened to Mykola Ozaryansky.
In April, the farmer took a chance: jumped on tractor in his village of borosinsky, in Kherson head For a friend’s sunflower field to cut the stems.
I swerved to turn down a side Farm Road. He remembers the explosion, awake up in hospital bed with Collapsed lung and broken ribs.
Believes of 16 hectares (about 40 acres) of Earth daily, still seedless.
“I’ll do it,” he said, laboring to speak as a tube drained from his chest. “For a farmer, it does not mean planting death. “
Volodymyr Zyts farm in Southern Ukraine can be reached via A grassy fairway is marked with tire tracks. It only drives inside those shallow ruts and avoids veering too far, as doing so can be dangerous. of Explosive mines all over the field.
Tall grass grows where the rows are of The sunflower once bloomed. Zetus’ land has not been touched since the fall of 2021 when it was last workbook with wheat. Now, it’s a minefield left By the withdrawal of Russian forces.
Avoid Zaits official Warnings and mine this patch of Earth, determined not to lose a year’s harvest. expected to be 15% of It has 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres) of Farmland was saved.
Workers like Viktor Kostyuk is still spotting mines, but he’s ready for it start jars.
“we have to do it” says”Why are you afraid?”
Across Ukraine, the war has plunged grain growers into a ferocious dilemma. farmers in Regions now free of Russian occupation risk their lives to strip their lands of before explosives critical Spring planting season.
Even then, they have to cope with High production and transportation costs caused Because of the Russian blockade of Many of the Black Sea ports and recent restrictions that are nearby countries imposed on Ukrainian grain.
the dual The crisis is cutting off many farmers back on Crop sowing. In addition to jams in Shipping grain by land and sea creating losses, with expectations of (a) Reduction of 20% to 30% in Produce poor quality grain and crops and possibly thousands of Bankruptcies next yearaccording to industry insiders, Ukrainian government officials and international organizations.
“sharp reduction” of threatens grain crops global Pierre Vauthier said that food security head of Food and Agriculture Organization of Ukraine (FAO). “This is it main Everything everyone eats. That’s why it’s a file big they.”
more than year Since Russia invasionUkrainian agricultural industry began to see full impact of It’s called the “bread basket.” of the worldwhose supplies are affordable of Wheat, barley, and sunflower oil are staples for Africa, the Middle East, and other parts of Asia where people hungry.
faw says 90% of Agricultural businesses lost revenue and 12% reported land pollution with Mines. K resultcultivated land with Grain decreased last year to 11.6 million hectares (28.6 million acres) from 16 million hectares (about 40 million acres) in 2021. This is expected to decrease to 10.2 million hectares (25.2 million acres) year.
In the southern province of Kherson among the threat of missiles from sky and mines on land, farmers make the same, often tragic, calculation: risk They farm or lose their livelihoods.
the region in between highest wheat producing areas in Ukraine and the most complex. demining services are exhausted, with Infrastructure and civil homes priority over farmer.
But farmers can’t wait: April-May critical months of cultivation for corn, autumn months for wheat. This is because many are turning to lower cultivation costly oil seeds.
We have about 40 big farmers in our areaAnd almost everyone is not able to do that access Hanna Shostak Kuchmiak said, head of Vysokopillya administration which includes several villages in North of Kherson.
Zaiets is oneand Valery Shkurapat from the neighboring village of Ivanivka is the other.
Shostak Kuchmyak said: “Our heroes,who They were driving around picking up mines and bring them to our deminers.”
Neither cultivator felt they had a choice. Both knew that they would be insolvent next without harvesting this year.
Shkurapat, whose area is 2,500 hectares (over 6000 acres) of The land once grew peas, barley, millet, and sunflowers. appreciate it half can be cultivated.
Last month , one of His workers were killed and another injured while picking up Metal rocket remains.
“If we sow, if we sow crops, people They will have jobs, salaries, and the means to feed their families,” Shkurat said. “But if we don’t do anything, we won’t have anything.”
blockade of Russia of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports stripped the country of The advantage you once enjoyed over Export of other grains countries. In addition, transit costs, now four to six times higher From pre-war levels, grain production made it prohibitive expensive.
High costs of Only high quality fuel, fertilizer and seeds add to farmers’ problems. K resultMost of them must sell their pills at a loss.
Andrei Vadatorsky, CEO, said farmers are responding by reducing sowing of Nibulon, one of the largest Ukrainian grain shipping companies.
“no one pay attention to fact that already Less than 40% of the wheat (this year), and we expect 50% less corn seed in He said while drawing on Data from 3,000 farmers.
Pay nebulon once on average of $12 for shipping a ton of Grains from the southern port city of Odessa. Now he pays $80 to $100 each tonWadatowski said.
HarvEast CEO Dmytro Skornyakov said his agricultural company pays nearly $110 in Logistics costs for each export ton of corn.
It covers our expenses but it doesn’t give us He said “no profit”.
Negotiations are ongoing on Renewal of the UN-brokered agreement allowing Ukrainian grain to safely leave three Black Sea ports. However, shippers say the deal is not working out efficiently.
Russian inspections cause long waits times for Ships, piling up on Tolls and make a sea route expensive Unreliable, Ukrainian grain shippers say. Russia denies slowing down inspections.
“We’ve had some ships that have been waiting almost 80 days in the queue Wadatowski said of Nebulon. “Someone has to lose that money, whether the buyer or the owner of ship or merchant.
Transit routes across Europe are open even as Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary temporarily ban Ukrainian wheat, corn and other products. over Concerns about farmers’ profits.
But those methods are slow and costly. Shipping accounted for by sea for 75% of Ukrainian grain exports in start of the year.
Meanwhile, some farmers won’t risk sow their fields.
The land of Ole Oschalo in Potomkyne is drenched in water with Ammo. vast wheat farms reduced to a cemetery of Burnt equipment.
inside pounding-out Heaps lie grain shed of Wheat grains – the entire Oshkalo harvest before the war – are rotting in the sun.
“We can go on for last year,” he said. After that, he didn’t know. Hopes for government compensation.
“I can’t send (my workers) to a field that I work in know Mines and bombs, Oshalo said. To send someone to blow himself up up? I can’t do that.”
He encounters resistance from his employees, eager to do so earn wages.
“The tractor drivers We say, “We can go, we can sign A document stating that we take it full Oshalo said.
He told them it was too risky.
In the distanceHe can see the tractor equipped with Disc tiller, type of plow. “I wonder if this is Volodymyr Mikolayovich,” he said, referring to Zaiets.
“Whatever it takes for one of those discs to hit Mine and that’s it.”
This is what happened to Mykola Ozaryansky.
In April, the farmer took a chance: jumped on tractor in his village of borosinsky, in Kherson head For a friend’s sunflower field to cut the stems.
I swerved to turn down a side Farm Road. He remembers the explosion, awake up in hospital bed with Collapsed lung and broken ribs.
Believes of 16 hectares (about 40 acres) of Earth daily, still seedless.
“I’ll do it,” he said, laboring to speak as a tube drained from his chest. “For a farmer, it does not mean planting death. “