Yields in the Black Sea are higher than last year, despite damage from recent rain.

In Ukraine, the Ministry of Agriculture said 6.9m tonnes of grains had been harvested by 12 July, from 2.4m ha – 21% of the forecast area.

So far, farmers had cut 2.8m tonnes of barley, 3.5m tonnes of wheat and 398,000t of rapeseed, said a report by Agritel.

“In general, crops are in satisfactory condition and the yield is higher than last year despite recent rains.”

Farmers had cut 85% of winter barley area, with yields 20% up on last year.

Winter wheat harvest was about 17% complete, and yields were 16% up.

However, spring barley yields were 6% lower than last year, with 8% of the crop harvested.

Pea yields were also down, by 2%, with oilseed rape yields 12% below last season.

Farming minister Nikolai Bezugly said that rain had damaged 3-5% of crops, although in some regions spoilage was a high as 20%, according to a report by AgriMarket.

“The rainy weather of recent weeks caused concerns about grain quality indicators. But the analysis showed that the quality of the first million tonnes of wheat was good.”

About 65% of wheat cut so far would make a milling grade, it added. 

In Russia, vice-premier Viktor Zubkov estimated total production to be 90m tonnes, with 7.5m tonnes harvested by July 13th, out of 1.8m ha.