Grain harvest in Russia this year, while maintaining favorable weather conditions and fulfilling plans for spring sowing, may reach 130-145 million tons, including 80-90 million tons of wheat, according to a Central Bank review on the regional economy, Interfax reports.
Favorable weather this year allowed agrarians in a number of regions to start the spring sowing campaign ahead of schedule. Spring cereals and leguminous crops are expected to be sown this year on an area of up to 30.1 million hectares, which is 3.4% more than last year, including due to the involvement of unused lands in circulation. The increase in wheat crops can be 2.8%, barley - 2.4%, corn - 4.6%. At the same time, the area under oilseeds may decrease by 4.3%, including under sunflower - by 5.3%, under rapeseed - by 0.5%. The sown area of soybeans may grow by 2.6% due to the regions of central Russia, the review says. Sowings under sugar beets and potatoes will remain almost at the level of last year. "Among the risks for the sowing campaign, farmers in some regions of the country note weather conditions: a sharp increase in heat combined with windy weather, as well as an unfavorable flood situation," the document says.
According to the review, the costs of farmers for the sowing campaign this year have increased for all major crops. The reason for such dynamics of costs was the rise in the cost of machinery and components, as well as fertilizers, seeds and plant protection products. At the same time, current prices for a number of crops remain lower than last year due to large stocks. Enterprises in a number of regions note that the level of purchase prices for wheat, corn and sunflower is close to the cost of their production.
"Price expectations of crop growers for the next three months continue to decline. Significant carry-over balances of agricultural products as a factor in the further decline in price growth were noted by producers in the regions of the south, Central Russia, the Urals and the Far East," the review says.
Meanwhile, the forecast of the Ministry of Agriculture for the collection of grain, announced by the head of the department Dmitry Patrushev on Wednesday at a meeting of the president with the government, is lower than that of the Central Bank. It is 123 million tons, including 78 million tons of wheat. In 2022, 157.7 million tons of grain were harvested, including 104.2 million tons of wheat.
