Ukraine Spring Grain Seeding Ahead of Last Year, Researcher Says

Ukraine plantings of spring grains is 12.4 percent ahead of last year, agriculture researcher UkrAgroConsult said.

Plantings advanced to 4.98 million hectares (12.3 million acres) as of yesterday, Kiev-based UkrAgroConsult said in an e- mailed statement today. This compares with 4.43 million hectares seeded by the same date last year, the researcher said.

Spring grain plantings this year included 2.8 million hectares of barley, 250,000 hectares of spring wheat and other crops, UkrAgroConsult said.

Sunflower planting rose as of yesterday to 1.46 million hectares, compared with 372,000 hectares a year ago, the researcher said. Soybean areas rose to 223,000 hectares from 198,000 last year, UkrAgroConsult said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kateryna Choursina in Kiev at kchoursina@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net