"The start of the cleaning campaign in the south of Russia is earlier than usual due to drought."

The regions in the south of Russia are the main producers of grain crops in the country. Due to severe drought, they are starting grain harvesting two weeks earlier than usual. Many market participants, experts, and officials are already warning that the harvest will be less productive compared to the previous year. Additionally, rains expected in the near future could cause even more damage to the ear-bearing plants, as reported by Interfax.

Launch with Challenges

The first regions to start grain harvesting were Krasnodar Krai and Stavropol Krai.

This year, in the South of Russia, the harvesting campaign started two weeks earlier than usual due to the early onset of spring and high temperatures in March-April. Savva Shevel, the director of plant growing at Agrocomplex named after N.I. Tkachev, noted that the enterprises of the "Center" division of the agroholding have already begun harvesting winter barley.

Altogether, in the Kuban region, it is planned to harvest 2.5 million hectares of grain and leguminous crops. The largest area is occupied by winter wheat - 1.6 million hectares. Harvesting starts with barley. Authorities emphasize that more than 40 thousand units of agricultural machinery are involved in the work, and there is enough fuel for the farms.

Grain harvesting has also started in the East of Stavropol Krai - in Levokumsky, Arzgirsky, and Kursky districts, as reported by the Minister of Agriculture of the region, Sergey Izmalkov. This season, the region plans to harvest 2.4 million hectares of grain.

The work started earlier than usual due to the lack of soil moisture against the backdrop of the drought.

Agroholding "Steppe" has begun grain collection in Stavropol Krai. "This year we plan to start harvesting earlier than usual for the south of Russia," says the CEO Andrey Neduzhko. "The first crops to be harvested will be barley and winter wheat."

In the next two weeks, Rostov region will join the harvesting campaign. The area sown with winter crops for the 2024 harvest is 2.945 million hectares.

"Due to dry weather conditions, the harvest in the Rostov region will start earlier than the traditional dates. According to preliminary data, this will happen in about 10-14 days," - reported the regional Ministry of Agriculture.

Decrease in Indicators

Most industry representatives expect a decrease in crop yields and overall grain production.

"Due to losses from frost and drought, the yield and harvest of grain crops in the Rostov region are expected to be lower. Since winter wheat occupies a large area, the decrease is expected primarily for it," - stated the Ministry of Agriculture of the region.

As a result of frosts, agricultural crops died on 211 thousand hectares in the region, mainly winter wheat - 180 thousand hectares. Partial damage to crops was observed on an area of ​​about 600 thousand hectares. The damage caused by frost in early May amounts to 3.74 billion rubles.

Since June 4, Rostov region has declared a state of increased readiness due to soil drought. The Ministry of Agriculture is tasked with daily monitoring the situation, collecting and processing information about possible crop damage and losses, and adjusting the structure of sown areas if necessary.

Victor Levkin, the owner of the agricultural enterprise "Aksaiskoe" in the Volgograd region, also emphasizes that rains at inappropriate times can negatively affect the quality of grain. "Also, rains are expected in the near future. And rains at the beginning of harvesting can have a negative impact on the quality of grain - both yield and quality will deteriorate," Levkin emphasizes.

Agroholding "Steppe" is monitoring and adjusting plans for the gross grain harvest.

"A 15% reduction in yield is expected. It will be premature to assess the quality of the grain that has not yet been harvested," says Andrei Neduzhko, the CEO of "Steppe." He adds that partially negative consequences of weather conditions will be offset by reseeding the destroyed crops. In May, sunflowers were replanted on an area of ​​1.5 thousand hectares in the holding's farms.

A Pleasant Exception

The only region in the Southern Federal District that has not been affected by weather anomalies is the Astrakhan region.

"There is no drought yet; the spring was even cooler than usual. Everything is going according to plan for us. The harvesting of early potatoes and cabbage has already started, soon there will be peppers. We do not predict any cuts in planned indicators this year. A total of 70 thousand tons of grain is planned to be harvested," - said the regional Ministry of Agriculture.

Last year, the harvest amounted to 68.6 thousand tons.

The total area under grain crops in the region is 23 thousand hectares. The largest area is occupied by rice.

Local farmer Vachagan Hechoyan notes that weather conditions have not affected the rice fields, but the drought has slightly affected other grain crops. Overall, the harvest will be approximately the same as last year. Hechoyan's words are cited by Interfax:

 "We are monitoring the situation until the grain is harvested, but according to preliminary estimates, the harvest will not decrease. We are observing fallow land, so we will be able to get at least some harvest,"