Istanbul/Kyiv | Reuters – Three grain ships left Ukrainian ports on Friday while the first inbound cargo vessel since Russia’s invasion was due in Ukraine to load, as Kyiv called for the safe passage deal to be extended to other cargoes such as metals. The July 22 deal marked a rare diplomatic breakthrough as war […] Read more
Ukraine seeks to extend shipping safe passage deal beyond grain
Ukraine, Russia sign deal to reopen grain export ports
Russia says it 'won't take advantage' of de-mining of ports
Istanbul/Kyiv | Reuters — Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on Friday to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased. The accord crowned two months of talks brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, a NATO member that […] Read more
Ukraine grain storage crisis hits home as farmers harvest new crops
Outlook bleak if sea export route not reopened soon
Khreshchate, Ukraine | Reuters — Ukrainian farmer Mykola Tereshchenko hopes to start harvesting his wheat fields this week, but the smallholder in northern Ukraine has nowhere to store the grain. His silos are still crammed full with 1,100 tonnes of grain from last year’s harvest that he can’t export due to the closure of Ukraine’s […] Read more
As Ukraine grain deal emerges, U.S. aims to ease concerns over Russia sanctions
Washington | Reuters –– The United States on Thursday sought to facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports by reassuring banks, shipping and insurance companies that such transactions would not breach Washington’s sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Enabling those Russian exports is a key part of attempts by the United Nations and Turkish […] Read more
Ukraine grain exports deal to be signed next week, Turkey says
Istanbul/United Nations | Reuters –– Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are due to sign a deal next week aimed at resuming Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports, but U.N. chief Antonio Guterres warned there was still “a long way to go” before there would be peace talks to end the war. Turkish defence minister […] Read more
Opinion: Grain dead end
Ukrainian farmers may soon be forced to make hard decisions about next season
Glacier FarmMedia – Two years ago, when the coronavirus pandemic swept the world, I didn’t worry about Ukrainian farmers at all. They calmly did their work, plowed the land, sowed and harvested. If in Ukrainian cities there was a difficult situation with COVID-19, the farmers almost did not notice it. A year earlier, Ukraine’s fields […] Read more
Poland says EU goal for Ukraine grain movement not feasible by July
Warsaw | Reuters – The European Union’s goal to move 20 million tons of grain out of Ukraine by the end of July is not feasible amid little progress in implementing EU and U.S. initiatives to ease logistics problems, the Polish agriculture minister said on Tuesday. Speaking to Reuters in an interview, Henryk Kowalczyk accused […] Read more
Turkish team to discuss Black Sea grain corridor in Russia this week
Turkey proposes to monitor safe passage
Ankara | Reuters — Ankara’s military delegation will travel to Russia this week to discuss details of a possible safe sea corridor in the Black Sea to export Ukrainian grain, Turkish presidency sources said on Tuesday. Russia’s TASS agency confirmed plans for the talks, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine […] Read more
Russia’s war may deprive world of three Ukrainian wheat harvests, minister says
'Significant' decline expected in winter wheat acres
Kyiv | Reuters — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will create a global wheat shortage for at least three seasons by keeping much of the Ukrainian crop from markets, pushing prices to record levels, Ukraine’s agriculture minister told Reuters. Ukraine, sometimes known as Europe’s breadbasket, has had its maritime grain export routes blocked by Russia and […] Read more
Ukrainian farmers persevere for 2022 planting
Black Sea shipping closure represents biggest among many challenges, say Canadian companies who work there
Ukraine has shifted from input-dependent crops like corn towards the country’s more traditional sunflowers and small grains, as farmers there have persevered through an unimaginably difficult 2022 planting season to complete a significant portion of planned acreage. That’s according to two Ontario seed-sector leaders whose companies have for several years done considerable business in Ukraine. […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
