Grainswest - Winter 2023

Winter 2023 grainswest.com 39 WRRU’s objectives include: fix or reconstruct homes, including electrical and sewage systems; restore agricultural production capacities by reconstruction of barns, stables, garages and storage structures; fix damaged agricultural equipment; and, purchase farm animals and vital inputs. WRRU also intends to support the demining and remediation of land contaminated by shelling. Multiple Canadian companies and individual farmers have stepped up to support WRRU. Jeff Kostuik is a Russell, MB research agronomist, hemp farmer and WRRU ambassador. Several years ago, Kostuik hosted Ukrainian farm delegations that visited Canada to learn about precision agriculture and grain hemp. Through the program, he met WRRU founder Roman Grynyshyn who at first was a delegation member and later led groups of his own. “When Ukraine was invaded, I felt a strong need to do something short of picking up my shotgun and going over to help. Roman was someone I could trust in Ukraine. Everybody wonders where to put money or resources to help out. WRRU seemed like a really down-to-earth and direct method for me to help,” said Kostuik, who has also opened his home to Ukrainian refugees displaced by the war. Canadians who would like to help with these and other initiatives need only reach out. Kostuik said Canadian contributions meet direct and immediate needs but also have wider impact. “I think the biggest thing is the morale. What the Ukrainian people have most in their favour is their morale and their will. If they know that people in other countries support them, even from afar, that’s so beneficial for them.” “What would you do if Russia attacked Canada right now? Wouldn’t you want the world to help?” added Saik. “There’s no difference between the Ukrainian people, [aside from] the hell they’re living right now, and us here. It just happens that we were born Canadian. We have to support freedom; we have to support Ukraine.” THEWAR’S IMPACT ON UKRAINIAN AGRICULTURE One of the world’s top agricultural producers, Ukraine has long been known as the breadbasket of Europe. More than 50 per cent of the country’s land is arable and highly productive. According to the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service, agriculture in 2021 provided employment to 14 per cent of Ukrainians and accounted for 41 per cent of the country’s $68 billion in overall exports. Then the invasion occurred. Iaroslav Boiko is president of AgriLab, a leading provider of precision farming solutions in Ukraine. He delivered a staggering tally. Via email from Chernihiv, he said direct losses to Ukraine’s agriculture sector are estimated at $6 billion and indirect losses at more than $30 billion. Much of the economic loss is due to the placement of mines in farm fields, unharvested crops and destroyed equipment. Demining alone is expected to cost more than $10 billion. Additional impacts include ruined perennial fields, destroyed granaries and lost final products that include manufactured goods and dead livestock. Of winter wheat sown in 2021, 2.4 million hectares remained unharvested when winter arrived in 2022. The outlook only worsens. “Even those who were lucky enough to harvest were forced to sell barley at a price lower than the cost of cultivation,” said Boiko. “Now farmers are thinking whether it is worth sowing winter crops. There are many risks: weather, economic, war.” According to Boiko, in fall of 2022, farmers sowed 20 per cent fewer acres to winter crops than average. Many crops are likely to produce significantly less yield and at greater cost. Due to the volatile nature of the situation in Ukraine, GrainsWest could not verify the numbers, but Boiko said the price of seed is up significantly, as are other inputs: plant protection products are up 20 per cent, fertilizer an average of 51 per cent and fuel 43 per cent. “Many farmers sow without fertilizer due to the high cost of inputs,” he said. “The next year is expected to be even more difficult. “This year, many farmers used the resources they had left in reserve, as well as savings. Last year, farmers had a record harvest, so there were savings. But this year they suffered losses. So, the spring sowing is under threat.” The war has also impacted typical crop rotation. In a normal year, Ukraine’s top crop is corn, due to its high profitability. However, corn’s high nitrogen requirements, as well as the high cost associated with grain drying, pushed many farmers to sow sunflower rather than corn in 2022. Unfortunately, nature didn’t co-operate. A portion of the crop was lost to excess rain and high humidity in September. As of early November, said Boiko, Ukraine had successfully exported 23.6 million tonnes of agricultural products since the beginning of the invasion. This is about 13.6 million tonnes less product than the country should have exported in this nine-month period. “Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of grain to the countries of the Middle East and Africa. The war in Ukraine threatens the long-term food security of the world.” The agreement to unblock the ports and allow grain shipments is highly tenuous and has only partially solved the export issue. “Russia threatens to end the grain agreement and block the ports,” said Boiko. “This will push Ukrainian farmers to bankruptcy and African countries to famine.”