The spring sowing campaign has started in Kuban. Agrarians have started sowing sugar beet, sunflower, corn and soybeans.
In total, about 3.6 million hectares will be sown with spring and winter crops for this year’s harvest, of which 1.8 million hectares will be sown with spring crops, which corresponds to the level of last year. Sugar beet will be sown on 205 thousand hectares, sunflower — 171 thousand, soybean — 190, corn — 436, rice — 117 thousand hectares.
However, agrarians complain about abnormally dry weather and moisture deficit in arable land. “There is practically no moisture in the meter layer of land. Much will depend on what precipitation will be during the growing season in April — May,” said Vladimir Nesterenko, head of the barley breeding and seed production department of the National Grain Center named after P.P. Lukyanenko. “In the northern regions of the region the winter was practically snowless,” added Alexander Shipulin, acting chairman of the Kuban Association of peasant (farm) farms AKKOR Kuban.
At the same time, there is still enough moisture in the soil for quick sprouting of winter crops. However, it is too early to make a forecast of the future harvest.
As for seeds, fuel and lubricants and spare parts, according to Alexander Shipulin, there is no shortage of them. According to the regional Ministry of Agriculture, the share of domestically produced seeds will increase. This year 55% of corn and sunflower crops will be sown with them (47% and 49% respectively a year ago) and 15% of sugar beet crops (9% in 2024). While Kuban has been provided with its own wheat and barley seeds for many years and almost 100% of the areas of these crops are sown with the products of the National Grain Center named after P.P. Lukyanenko, there were difficulties with sugar beet seeds a few years ago. Thus, in 2019, only 1% of the area was sown with domestic products. Since 2019, the region has introduced state support in the form of subsidies for their purchase. “The need for seeds for spring sowing in 2025 is 96 thousand tons. Agrarians are provided in full, — told “RG” in the Ministry of Agriculture of the region.
During the sowing campaign, almost 36,000 units of machinery were used in the fields of Kuban, the same number as a year earlier. According to the regional Ministry of Agriculture, more than 2.7 thousand of them are new. Farms bought them in 2024 for a total of 17.3 billion rubles. For comparison: in 2023, agrarians bought more than 3 thousand tractors and machines for 22.6 billion rubles.
“Unfortunately, the economy of farms suffers because of export duties on grain. They take away a significant part of income due to the fact that traders reduce the price of wheat, and at the same time the price of fuel and lubricants, fertilizers, plant protection products and especially machinery and spare parts is rising. It is difficult to buy new equipment. Of course, such ACCOR partners as Rosagroleasing, Rosselkhozbank and enterprises help,” said Alexander Shipulin.
Sowing of spring and winter crops in Kuban is now at the level of last year, but agrarians complain about the lack of moisture in arable land
Vladimir Petrichenko, general director of the analytical company ProZerno, gave a forecast on the cost of wheat this year at the Mountain Grain Assembly held in Sochi in February. In his opinion, its price may rise to 260-270 USD per ton on the FOB basis in the port of Novorossiysk (FOB — the cost of grain on board the ship without taking into account the cost of its transportation and insurance). At the beginning of March this figure was equal to 241.3 US dollars.
“The key factor in the development of the price situation of Russian grain is the size of domestic stocks, which are at their lowest levels in the last two seasons. Stable export demand even before the export quota was introduced ceased to be the driving force behind the movement of domestic prices. According to the forecast, the final stocks of wheat in Russia due to high domestic consumption will be at a five-six year minimum for the market, as a result, the cost of wheat may rise to $260-270 per ton on the FOB basis (port of Novorossiysk), — concluded Vladimir Petrichenko.