Ukraine expects record soybean harvest – Taras Vysotskyi explains why farmers have significantly increased soybean planting

This year, Ukraine will harvest 6 million tons of soybeans, a record crop for the country. Soybean harvests and yields play an important role in both soil fertilization and logistics.

This was stated by Taras Vysotskyi, First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, during a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine.

“The soybean harvest will be a record. We expect 6 million tons, an absolute historical maximum for Ukraine,” said Taras Vysotskyi.

He highlighted several factors that have led to a significant increase in soybean acreage this year.

“Soybeans are an important precursor crop in the rotation because they are nitrogen forming. Right now, financial conditions are challenging for everyone, and mineral fertilizer, which is expensive, is not always affordable. Soybeans require less mineral fertilizer and leave nitrogen in the soil, so they offset the high cost of mineral fertilizer to some extent. In addition, logistics have been a constant challenge over the past three years – the blockade of the Black Sea corridor, the shelling that we saw in early October. Logistics costs per unit of production, per ton, are higher than before the war. When you grow a crop with a higher unit price, you are less affected by expensive logistics. For example, if corn costs about 200 USD per ton with logistics costs of 30 to 40 USD, soybeans are priced at 450 to 500 USD with similar logistics costs. This shift allows farmers to focus on a crop with a lower yield but a higher value per unit,” Vysotskyi explained.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news