Ukraine Rains Called ‘Gold’ After Dry April by UkrAgroConsult

Rains in the past month in Ukraine were “gold” for farmers after dry weather in April left crops at risk for reduced yields, said Sergey Feofilov, general director at researcher UkrAgroConsult

Ukraine’s corn production may total 22 million to 23 million metric tons in the 2012-13 marketing year, Feofilov said today in an interview at the International Grains Council’s annual conference in London. Wheat output may be about 14 million tons. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates Ukraine’s corn production at 24 million tons and its wheat harvest at 13 million.

“The weather for corn and sunflowers has been almost ideal recently,” Feofilov said. “We had two waves of rain all over Ukraine. That was gold for farmers last month. In late April, the situation was almost critical.”

About 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of winter wheat and rapeseed suffered from winter kill after a cold snap in February, Feofilov said. Much of that land was replanted with corn and sunflowers, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Whitney McFerron in London at wmcferron1@bloomberg.net

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