Ukraine says crop yields may be cut by half as Russian attacks continue

As Russia continues its military assault on Ukraine, Ukraine’s agriculture minister warned that its spring crop, and even next year’s harvest, could be halved, hampering its ability to continue to function as a major global agriculture producer and exporter. The sowing area for grains such as barley and corn, sugar beets, sunflowers, and soybeans have been reduced from what was initially forecasted at 15M hectares to 7M hectares before Russia’s invasion one month ago, Reuters reports. In response, Ukraine has urged farmers to grow more spring wheat and grains, and halted exports of rye, oats, salt, sugar, meat, and livestock. Its poultry industry has also taken a major hit, as Ukraine’s largest egg producer, Avangard, reported several of its key egg farms were closed or destroyed, hens at some operational farms have been left without feed or slaughtered, and power outages caused “significant” production losses. MHP, the country’s largest broiler meat producer, also said it had lost $8M after Russian forces bombed the largest frozen food warehouse in Ukraine, according to reports from Poultry World. —Safiya Charles