Polina Zhovtyak still produces cheese, runs her daughter’s bakery 
and keeps the farm she founded with her husband ticking over, 
while they both serve in the Ukrainian army. 

From Ukraine: Keeping the home fires burning

As her husband and daughter serve in the Ukrainian army, Polina Zhovtyak keeps the family businesses running

The heroine of this story is Polina Zhovtyak. Not only is her husband fighting, but also her daughter, Kateryna, who became a volunteer soldier. That is why Polina has to develop the business of producing elite cheese and ecological bird eggs, unique for Ukraine, on her own. And she succeeds, but admits it can be struggle.

Ukrainian farmers who owned their own equipment were not at risk of missing crucial field work windows.  Photo: Ihor Pavliuk

War teaches Ukrainian farmers tough lessons 

As the war approaches its second anniversary, the farmers who adapted earliest have been in the best position to survive  

Feb. 24 marks two years since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It seems like a short time, but it has caused huge upheaval in our society. Hundreds of thousands have died and millions have lost their homes.


A man is seen outside the house damaged by Russian shelling, Odesa Region, southern Ukraine. (Photo by Nina Liashonok/Ukrinform/Sipa USA)

What is war fatigue?

If the West is 'tired' of the war in Ukraine, consider the reality of Ukrainians

As we approached the end of December, my mood, like that of most Ukrainians, was not at all Christmassy. The heroic achievement of 2022, when our lives hung in the balance and our defenders managed to repel the enemy, was replaced by the bloody routine of 2023.

A display of civilian vehicles destroyed in the war in Kyiv. Photo: Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters

Ukrainian farmers’ history of making do pays off in wartime

First person: over the past 20 months, hundreds of thousands of civillian vehicles have passed through the crucible of war

The technical arsenal of farmers who cultivate small acreages is extremely varied. They have small tillers to which trailers are attached, and tiny, sometimes homemade, tractors. Sometimes you can even see a small field being plowed with the help of horses. We still have horse-drawn carts, although this is rare. In my town, there is only one horse left. My friend keeps him at home as a pet. In his youth, my friend worked at a stable and retained his love for horses.

Hryhoriy Tkachenko refuses to give up on rebuilding his family’s farm.

From Ukraine: Rebuilding the farm from the rubble

Hryhoriy Tkachenko revives his farm after the occupation leaves animal buildings, equipment destroyed

Glacier FarmMedia – One and a half years have passed since the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine. The farm of Hryhoriy Tkachenko came under attack in the first days of the war. During the three weeks of occupation, the farm was so badly damaged that he still cannot restore everything. It was the near-total […] Read more


A destroyed house after floodwaters receded following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the town of Hola Prystan in the Kherson region, June 16, 2023.

From Ukraine: Farmers prepare for the onslaught of the desert

When the Nova Kakhovka dam was breached, it lit the fuse on slow motion agricultural disaster

To an enormous country like Canada, Ukraine might seem small, but it is the largest country that exists entirely within Europe. There are many natural landscapes present here — forests, mountains, forest-steppe (what you know as the parkland in Western Canada) and steppe (prairie). There is even a small strip of subtropics with palm trees […] Read more

Farmer Serhii demonstrates that moisture is captured below the residue of his no-till fields.

From Ukraine: the living and the dead

As summer approaches, thoughts turn to harsh times yet to come

A centuries-old spring tradition has been preserved in Ukraine, through the communist occupation of the last century and the current war. Every year, a week after Easter, we go to cemeteries. Tens of millions of people dress in nice clothes and take food with them. Coloured eggs — krashanky — and special tall breads — […] Read more

Wheat farmers talk to media in a wheat farm outside Bashtanka, Mykolaiv region on June 9, 2022.

From Ukraine: Driven from his fields

Ukrainian farmer hopes to see his farm liberated from Russian invaders

Glacier FarmMedia – From time to time, Oleh visits the positions of troops on the front lines of war in east Ukraine. While there, he looks hopefully to the horizon. There, just one mile away, are his fields, shop and grain warehouse now occupied by Russian invaders. I will not write Oleh’s last name, nor […] Read more


Farmer Oleksandr Shevchuk says Ukraine needs more military support to end the war.

Ukraine farmer soldiers on

Oleksandr Shevchuk keeps his business working during war, while aiding army and refugees

Glacier FarmMedia – Contrary to my pessimistic expectations, Ukrainian farmers somehow manage to survive. They harvest and sow winter crops, and some even buy new machinery. Of course, for most farmers, things are not going very well but these people manage to adapt to the most difficult conditions of the war. In particular, I can […] Read more

Granaries in the Odesa region of Southern Ukraine, June 22, 2022. With ports remaining closed despite international efforts to reach a deal, harvests are getting underway with storages still loaded with last year’s crops.

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