The active phase of the autumn sowing campaign for the 2027 harvest is concluding in Ukraine. As of October 28, agrarians have sown 5.35 million hectares of winter crops. At the same time, the plan for winter rapeseed has already been exceeded, while grain crop sowings have not yet reached projected areas.

This is reported by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.

According to the ministry, winter grains have been sown on 4.21 million hectares, or 80.8% of the planned areas. Wheat and triticale traditionally occupy the largest share.

Main sowing results by crop:

  • Wheat and triticale - 3.75 million hectares, or 82.6% of the forecast.
  • Winter barley - 390 thousand hectares, or 65.7% of the forecast.
  • Winter rye - 72.5 thousand hectares, or 94.5% of the forecast.
  • Winter rapeseed - 1.13 million hectares, or 102.7% of the planned area.

Thus, winter barley lags the most behind the projected indicators. Meanwhile, rapeseed sowing has actually been completed with an excess of the initial plan.

Over the last week, winter crop sowings increased by almost 300 thousand hectares. As of October 21, the total area was about 5.05 million hectares, of which 3.93 million hectares were allocated to grain crops.

Since then, the sown areas under grains increased by about 285 thousand hectares, and under rapeseed - by 14 thousand hectares.

Mykolaiv region leads in winter grain areas

The largest winter grain areas have been sown in the Mykolaiv region - 492 thousand hectares. Of these, 393 thousand hectares are wheat and triticale, and another 97 thousand hectares are barley.

Dnipropetrovsk region ranks second with 432.6 thousand hectares, and Kirovohrad region is third, where 379.9 thousand hectares have been sown with winter grains.

Significant areas were also cultivated by agrarians in Odesa region - 330 thousand hectares, Poltava - 278.6 thousand hectares, Khmelnytskyi - 215.2 thousand hectares, and Cherkasy - 214.9 thousand hectares.

For winter rapeseed sowings, Odesa region leads with 180 thousand hectares, Vinnytsia - 125 thousand hectares, and Mykolaiv - 98 thousand hectares.

Agrarians are more cautious in planning grain sowings

Despite approaching the completion of autumn field works, financial and logistical problems remain in the industry.

According to the assessment of the association "Ukrainian Agribusiness Club" (UCAB), at the end of October the pace of sowing began to slow down. At the same time, a tendency is forming towards a reduction of areas under grain crops compared to the initial forecasts.

Analysts attribute this to complex export logistics, accumulation of unsold harvest in warehouses, limited working capital, and high cost of agricultural production.

UCAB analytical department head Maksym Hopka noted that by the end of October the main part of the sowing has been completed, but approximately one million hectares remain unsown under wheat and barley.

According to UCAB, agrarians are increasingly cautious about expanding grain production for the 2027 harvest due to difficulties with product sales and financing of the next production cycle.

As Kurs.com.ua previously reported, in October farmers in Mykolaiv region complained about a drop in grain purchase prices due to export restrictions. Some small farms considered reducing winter crop sowings due to lack of funds.

Meanwhile, current data indicate that winter rapeseed sowing in Ukraine has already exceeded the forecast, while the completion of grain sowing will depend on the ability of agrarians to carry out the remaining field works.