Ukraine’s projected wheat harvest significantly exceeds domestic market needs – Vysotskyi

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food First Deputy Minister Taras Vysotskyi in an interview with Ukrinform.

“This year, we have a number of abnormal force majeure weather conditions that were present in spring, as well as in certain regions in summer. We see that, in fact, the vegetation and harvest are taking place with a delay from the average by 2-3 weeks. As of today, we have actually just started the harvesting campaign, while last year at these days there was already a fairly active phase,” Vysotskyi told.

In his words, Ukraine’s wheat production was estimated at around 22 million tonnes last year. This year’s preliminary forecast ranges from 20 million tonnes to 22 million tonnes.

For domestic food security, this is not a threatening moment, Vysotskyi stressed. In particular, Ukraine’s domestic consumption of wheat does not exceed 6 million tonnes.

The Ukrainian official mentioned that, in addition to the extreme weather, crop fields are being “pressured” by hostilities.

“We are talking about hostilities, primarily in those areas and regions where these hostilities are ongoing. Of course, it is difficult to work directly in the territories of hostilities, in some places there are crop losses, including due to fires. As of today, it is difficult to assess the final impact, i.e. what area cannot or will not be harvested due to hostilities,” Vysotskyi explained.

A reminder that, as of July 4, 2025, a total of 865.7 thousand tonnes of the new-harvest grain and leguminous crops were gathered from 331.9 thousand hectares across Ukraine. Nine regions had already joined the harvesting campaign.