Ukraine Grain Output Seen by UN Poised to Rise on Winter Crop

Grain production in Ukraine is poised to recover this year following a drought in 2012 as winter crops are in favorable condition, the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization said.

Winter grains were planted on 8.1 million hectares (20 million acres), including 6.7 million hectares of wheat and 1.1 million hectares of barley, the Rome-based UN agency wrote in a country report on its website dated Jan. 15. At the end of last month, 92 percent of crops were in satisfactory condition.

“Cereal production in 2013 is expected to recover from last year’s reduced level,” provided weather is normal during the rest of the season, the FAO said.

Ukraine’s grain harvest slid 19 percent in 2012 to 45.3 million metric tons, the UN agency said. The wheat crop tumbled 30 percent to 15.5 million tons.

Grain exports in the 2012-13 marketing year begun July 1 may total 21 million tons, including 6 million tons of wheat, 2.3 million tons of barley and 12.7 million tons of corn, according to the FAO.

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