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Farming in Ukraine during the war: An update with Kees Huizinga

Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine is putting a squeeze on farmers trying to plant a crop.  Ukraine farmer Kees Huizinga says despite the ongoing conflict they’re attempting to start planting the 2022 crop.

But, he says crop rotations will likely have to be adjusted.  “People will start to pant other crops,” he says.  “But it also kind of depends on the area where they are.  For example, we will not plant sugar beets.”  Huizinga says that may not be the case for all farmers and those who are further west may be able to keep their original planting intentions.

He tells Brownfield not all farmers will have that luxury this spring.  “The areas that are occupied won’t do any planting,” he says.  “And the areas close to the occupied areas, it’s kind of dangerous with the shooting there and rockets flying around.”

Huizinga says even if the war ended today, a lot of damage has been done already. “There are still land mines around so not everything can be planted,” he says.  “But then of course, we can catch up a lot, farmers are flexible, but the average year will be much lower than in a normal year.”

He says there are still a lot of unknowns for this crop.  “If we manage to plant it and manage to keep it clean with crop protection, and if we manage to harvest it, is there a way to export it,” he says.  “If the ports are closed or damaged and we physically can’t export it, then there is no way we can do all this export by truck or by train toward the west.”