The biggest lag is recorded in late crops. While sowing of spring wheat and barley is almost completed, corn, sunflower and soybeans are significantly behind schedule. As of May 4, corn and sunflower were sown on only 30% of the planned areas, soybeans – on 18%. For comparison, in 2024-2025 for this period the indicators were respectively about 73%, 72% and 58%. This is reported by the Association “Ukrainian Club of Agrarian Business” (UCAB), writes Agronews.
Such a lag increases the risks of yield reduction, especially for corn, which needs the longest growing season. With late sowing dates, farmers will either have to switch to sooner maturing hybrids or accept potentially lower yields.
Additional risks are associated with a possible increase in weed and disease pressure, the UCAB said.
“So far, agrarians face a new challenge – to carry out the sowing season in the shortest possible time. In addition to the above-mentioned problems, high temperatures came very quickly after low temperatures, which threatens additional moisture loss,” the association’s representatives believe.
And what about Moldova?
The situation with sowing spring crops in Moldova is almost identical to that in Ukraine. According to expert estimates, in the whole country by the end of the first decade of May not more than one third of the planned agricultural areas have been sown. Representatives of some business associations expressed concerns that the spring sowing campaign, especially in the northern zone of Moldova, may be delayed until June.
Boris Boincian, an expert of the National Center for Seed Production and Research in Agriculture, notes that the situation is not critical yet. Precipitation and temperature increase forecasted for the end of the current week contributes to the development of crops and, in the long run, to the normal completion of sowing. However, the risks are also growing – along with weeds.
