24 IN JUNE OF this year, Ontario Grain Farmer published a story on the challenges faced by Ukrainian farmers amidst the growing conflict with Russia. First interviewed in April, Oleh Zahorodnii and Roman Gorobets provide an update in follow-up interviews on the situation in Ukraine and how it is impacting their farm businesses. OUT OF DANGER, BUT CHALLENGES MOUNT Oleh Zahorodnii is the chief agronomist of a large agricultural company in Ukraine called Agro Expert. The company supplies local farmers with seed, fertilizer, plant protection products, and machinery. Agro Expert also cultivates nearly 2,500 acres in the region of Vinnytsia. Zahorodnii also tends the home farm where he grows corn, soybeans, wheat and echinacea in the Chernihiv region. When last we spoke with him, Zahorodnii reported that Vinnytsia was free of conflict, but work in the region was slow due to the constant interruption of airstrike sirens, which forced workers underground. Zahorodnii’s home farm, however, is situated directly in the war zone. He says that planting this spring was slow as the land was riddled with mines. “In our farm in Vinnytsia, as well as in others in this region, the situation has stabilized,” he says. “We conducted the spring sowing Farming in a war zone UKRAINE FARMERS CONTINUE TO BE RESILIENT Melanie Epp campaign quite well, harvested winter crops and sunflowers, and continue to harvest corn for grain.” Active hostilities, he says, continue hundreds of kilometres away in the east and south of the country. Since our conversation in April, Zahorodnii says suppliers have established new logistics chains, which means farmers can get the supplies they need. While they are readily available, the cost of those supplies has risen considerably. On Zahorodnii’s home farm, the picture was a little less bright. While he was able to sow Industry News UKRAINIAN FARMER ROMAN GOROBETS FARMS IN THE POLTAVA REGION NEAR KREMENCHUK. PHOTO COURTESY OF ROMAN GOROBETS.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQzODE4