Ukraine to cut winter wheat area due to unprofitable logistics — Vysotskyi

Ukraine is expected to reduce the area sown with winter wheat for the 2027 harvest due to high logistics costs, which under current conditions make production of the crop unprofitable in many cases, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi said at a weekly meeting with journalists.

“This is already a fact based on our initial assessment,” he said.

According to the minister, the exact scale of the reduction will become clear in early October, when the government receives representative data on the progress of the sowing campaign. The sowing of winter crops will continue at least until the end of October and, in some cases, into early November.

The area sown with winter rapeseed is not expected to change significantly, Vysotskyi said. Increasing it this year will be difficult because the optimal rapeseed sowing window begins on Aug. 5, while the logistics situation deteriorated in late July.

A similar situation is expected with winter barley, he said, although the crop accounts for a much smaller area.

At the same time, a reduction in wheat sowings will not pose a threat to Ukraine’s domestic food security. Vysotskyi noted that domestic wheat consumption in Ukraine stands at about 6 million metric tons per year, while production in recent years has ranged between 23 million and 25 million tons. This year, production has already reached about 25 million tons, he said.

“Obviously, there will be no radical reduction in wheat sowings — by half or more. Therefore, in terms of the availability of wheat from next year’s harvest for the domestic market, there is no threat here,” the minister explained.

As for the spring sowing campaign, it is too early to forecast its structure, Vysotskyi said. At the same time, he sees a possibility that the trend observed in 2023-2024 could return, with the share of oilseeds, primarily soybeans and sunflower, increasing at the expense of corn acreage.