IFBF 2013 Black Sea Market Study Tour Report
The Black Sea Region is emerging as significant exporter of grains and oilseeds. For
purposes here, we define the Black Sea Region as those countries that border on the Black
Sea: Southwestern Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia, although for the
bulk of this report we will focus on the countries of Ukraine and Romania which were the
countries visited by the Black Sea Market Study Tour group.
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The Study tour consisted of 15 Farm Bureau members who applied and were chosen to be
Study Tour participants, 2 Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) district directors, and 3 IFBF
staff. Participants included: Blake Anderson (Adams); Adrienne Baughman (Polk), Ben
Bader (Black Hawk); Jim Boyer (Emmet); Matt Danner (Carroll); Doug Gronau (Crawford);
Dan Hanrahan (Madison); Bill Horan (Calhoun); Kevin Kelly (Cedar); Erwin Johnson
(Floyd); Tim Kaldenberg (Monroe); Carlton Kjos (Winneshiek); Brad Moeckly (Polk);
Randy Pitman (Poweshiek); Ben Pullen (Clay); Larry Sailer (Franklin); Luke Schuldt
(Bremer); and IFBF staff of David Miller, Aaron Siskow and Dirck Stiemel.
Figure 1 Left to Right: Schuldt, Kjos, Gronau, Bader, Kaldenberg, Baughman, Danner, Hanrahan, Kelly,
Horan, Siskow, Boyer, Anderson, Johnson, Miller, Pullen, Stiemel, Moeckly, Pitman, Sailer.
The group left Des Moines Iowa on June 22, 2013; arrived in Kiev, Ukraine on June 24th
(having experienced a flight diverted by thunderstorms, missed connections, and reroutings.We started in Kiev, Ukraine where we met with USDA embassy staff and an official
of the Ministry of Agriculture. We then traveled west to the village of Izyaslav where we
spent the night and then visited FarmGate Ukraine (farm of Jeff Rechkemmer). After this
visit we traveled south & east past Medzhybizh Castle in Khmelnytskyi, then on toward the
Roshen Dairy at Litinsky, then to Vinnytsia where we spent the night. The next day, we
continued east to the NuScience Feedmil in Haisyn, and a large Ukrainian agro-holding
northeast of Mykhailivka, then to Uman, before heading northeast to the farm of Kees (Case)
Huizinga at Kyshchentsi, and then to Man’Kivka where we spent the night at the Aquadar
conference facility. We then visited the Kernel Grain facility near Potash, then south to the
UKRland farm near Horodntsya; then further southeast to the Nibulon Grain terminal in
Mykolaiv.
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Trip Route Map
We stayed in Mykolaiv two nights. From Mykolaiv we did a day trip to the Imperial Agro
farm of Joe Parker (an irrigated farm east of Novo Kakhovka) and a large open market at
Velyki Kopani. The next day we then went back north to the Soviet Missile Site at
Pervomais’ka, then to a grain farm at Velyka Mykhailivka, and then to Odesa where we
stayed two nights. In Odesa we visited the ADM port facility and saw some cultural sites.
From Odesa, we traveled southwest to the Agri Prime swine farm near Bolgrad. From there
we traveled south, then west to cross the Moldova border at Giurgiulesti and then into
Romania at Galati where we spent the night.
In Romania, we traveled south to Braila, then west to a father-son grain farm west of
Romanu. We then went a little farther west & south to a modern dairy farm north of Ianca.
We then traveled south and east to a large winery near Murfatlar and then to the coast at
Eforie Nord where we spent the night. Next was a tour of the Constanta port facility on the
Black Sea. From there, we traveled northwest to Bucharest for a briefing by the USDA staff
of the U.S. Embassy. We stayed two nights in Bucharest. From Bucharest, we traveled to
north and west to Transylvania stopping at Bran (Dracula’s Castle) & a visit with a local
sheep farmer and restaurant operator, and then to Brasov before heading back to Bucharest.
The group departed Bucharest on the morning of July 5, 2013 and arrived in Des Moines, IA
about 4:30 pm on July 5, 2013.
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Day 0 (Saturday-Sunday, June 22-23, 2013) Des Moines – Detroit – Boston – Paris –Kyiv
As we were checking in at the Des Moines airport, a
large section of brick fell through the ceiling of the main
terminal. Hmmm. Could this be an omen of things to
come for the flights over to Kyiv?
Figure 2 Ceiling collapse at Des Moines
Airport
Figure 3 Checking the radar on the iPad
at the Flint Michigan airpoirt.
Figure 4 Lunch at "Cheers" in Boston
As it turns out – Yes!. A pop-up thunderstorm over the
Detroit airport caused our flight there to divert to Flint,
Michigan to refuel and wait until the storms cleared the
area. Spent about an hour on the ground at Flint. Got
to Detroit then sat at the gate for 20 minutes while
they "fixed" the JetBridge. In the meantime, our
connection to Amsterdam took off. They rebooked us
(18 of the 20 of us) on an itinerary that now goes
Detroit to Boston to Paris to Kiev. We now arrive in
Kiev about noon Monday. Two of the group got
rebooked for Detroit to Newark to Amsterdam to
Kiev. They get into Kiev a couple hours later than the
rest of us. Spent over two hours on the phone with
reservations trying to get that changed, but with no
success. I did get us rooms for the night here in
Detroit. Now to try to reschedule or modify the
Monday agenda in Ukraine.
With a 9 hour layover in Boston, we took the train
downtown to the Boston Commons area and then
walked over to Faneuil Hall Marketplace for lunch.
Part of us had lunch at the “Cheers” bar & restaurant;
others went a couple blocks farther to a renowned
seafood & chowder place. Our flights to Paris and Kyiv
went well, other than the fact that 6 of us did not get our
luggage in Kyiv. Three of the group did get luggage
later that day, but 3 of us did not get our luggage until
Thursday.
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Day 1 (Monday, Jun 24, 2013) Kyiv – Izyaslav
We arrived in Kyiv early in the
afternoon of June 24th, about 24
hours after having left Detroit
early on June 23rd, flying to
Boston (9 hour layover), Paris and
then to Kyiv. There was an 8 hour
time difference between Iowa and
Ukraine. Once in Kyiv, we went
to the Hotel Alfavito where we
had lunch with Randall Hager,
USDA/FAS Ag Attache stationed
at the US Embassy in Kyiv and
two of his staff, Yuliya Dubinyuk
and Alexander Tarassevych.
Figure 5 Briefing by Vitaly Sabluk, Ukraine Ministry of Agriculture
After lunch, we had briefings on
Ukrainian agriculture from Vitaly
Sabluk, Director of Economic
Development for the Ukraine
Ministry of Agriculture (MOA)
(pictured above). Mr. Sabluk
provided us with a 100+ page
booklet on Ukrainian agriculture
called, Panorana of Ukraine
Agrarian Sector. We also received
briefings from the U.S. Embassy
staff.
Figure 6 Briefing on agriculture in Ukraine at the Alfavito Hotel
Figure 7 Randall Hager
Figure 8 Yuliya Dubinyuk
Figure 9 Alexander Tarassevych
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During the briefings, we learned that Ukraine currently is the fastest growing grain
production in the world. Commercial grain production in Ukraine is dominated by 150 “Ag
Enterprises” that control about 40% of the cropland in Ukraine. There are about 14 million
peasant farmers in Ukraine which do about 50% of total agricultural production, but they are
not organized. Rural Ukraine is slowly depopulating as more of the production shifts to large
Ag Enterprises. There is an emphasis at the Ukraine Ministry of Agriculture on development
of family farms, but they want to do it without harming the profitability and investment that
is being made by the Ag Enterprises. The MOA has a program in place to help young
farmers get 200 hectares from the national Land Bank. Mr. Sabluk also talked about a
national program to stimulate families to increase livestock production through a national
leasing company. Mr. Sabluk also said that he had a very favorable opinion of an “IFBF-like
organization” and thought that Ukraine small farms needed a similar organization to help
them as Ukraine agriculture continues to transition from the old state-farms to new farm
structures.
Mr. Sabluk also talked about the current political divide in Ukraine regarding international
affiliations. Part of the population favors joining the European Union and part of the
population favors joining the Russian Customs Union with Russia, Belarus, Kazakstan,
Uzbekistan, and other former members of the USSR. Eastern Ukraine, especially those areas
with industrial complexes, tends to favor stronger ties with Russia, while those in western
Ukraine tend to favor stronger ties to the European Union. There are tentative plans for
Ukraine to become an Associate Member of the European Union in 2014.
Randall Hager, Yuliya Dubinyuk and Alexander Tarassevych briefed the group on various
aspects of Ukrainian agriculture. They talked about some of the key features of Ukrainian
agriculture: an abundance of highly-productive, fertile land, rapidly rising corn production,
significant production of wheat and sunflowers, improving applications of agricultural
technology, and the dominance of the investor-owned Ag Enterprises. One of the advantages
of the large Ag Enterprises is their access to capital and credit, both from within Ukraine, but
also from international sources, as compared to a significant lack of credit availability for the
small peasant-owned farms and small farm operations.
The Ukraine cattle market has been shrinking since the fall of the Soviet Union and now
consists of almost all dairy cows. A significant portion of the dairy cows are owned by the
peasant farmers, but there is some movement by the Ag Enterprises to start and/or enlarge
their dairy operations as a means
to employ more of the people in
the villages. Poultry production
is rapidly increasing in Ukraine.
Figure 10 Hotel at Izyaslav, Ukraine
After the briefings, and a side trip
back to the airport to retrieve half
of our “lost luggage,” we traveled
300 km west to the village of
Izyaslav, arriving a little after
midnight. Along the way, we
stopped to have dinner at the
roadside restaurant at 11 pm. We
spent the night at a local hotel in
Izyaslav.
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Day 2 (Tuesday, June 25, 2013) Izyaslav – Vinnytsia
Figure 11 Jeff Rechkemmer (left) visits with Kevin Kelly (right) at
the hotel in Izyaslav
Jeff Rechkemmer, from Oelwein,
Iowa, met us at the Izyaslav hotel.
Jeff has been involved in Ukraine
agriculture for nearly 20 years and
now manages FarmGate Ukraine,
a 7,000+ hectare farming
operation in the Izyaslav area.
The principle crops at FarmGate
Ukraine are: corn, soybeans,
winter wheat, barley and
rapreseed. FarmGate has about
100 employees and leases land
that is located in a 40 km area
around Izyaslav. Jeff hauls a
significant portion of his grain by
truck to the port at Odesa which
is about 650 km from Izyaslav.
We toured FarmGate Ukraine.
Jeff talked about growing crops in
Ukraine, discussing crops,
seeding rates, fertility programs
and many other aspects of crop
production in northwestern
Ukraine. Typical a 00 maturity
soybean is planted in this area.
They are also experimenting with
000 maturity soybeans. In 2012, a
significant portion of FarmGate’s
soybeans were harvested at
moisture levels above 20%.
Figure 12 Jeff Rechkemmer (center) talks to the group about crop
production in one of the rapeseed fields of FarmGate Ukraine.
The typical field at FarmGate
Ukraine is very large, with many
being more than 100 to 200
hectares (250 – 500 acres). The
seeding rate for soybeans was
about 90-100 lbs of seed per acre
which is higher than the seeding
rate on most Iowa farms.
FarmGate Ukraine does not use
GMO seeds since they are not
officially allowed in Ukraine,
although several sources indicated
that there a significant amount of
GMO soybeans in Ukraine.
Figure 13 FarmGate Ukraine soybean field being sprayed
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This cornfield was planted about
April 20th. A typical seeding rate
is 80,000 seeds per hectare
(32,000 seeds/acres). The corn is
a 90-95 day maturity variety.
FarmGate Ukraine gets some of its
seedcorn from Kitchen Seed
Company in Illinois. Typically,
harvest begins in late September
or early October and much of the
corn will be above 22% moisture
at harvest with moisture levels
near 30% not uncommon. Jeff
expects yields of 140-160 bu/ac.
Figure 14 Jim Boyer looks at a FarmGate Ukraine corn field.
FarmGate Ukraine has modern
tractors and combines. The tractor
drivers at FarmGate Ukraine run
24 hours on and then 24 hours off.
Their shift begins at 6 pm so they
are freshest during the night. If it
rains, they stay with the tractor to
provide security for the machinery.
FarmGate Ukraine has
experienced theft of fuel and tires
on machines left unattended in the
field. They have 24-hr/day secure
at the main machinery yard.
Figure 15 Large, new JD tractors at FarmGate Ukraine
Figure 16 Brad Moeckly and Matt Danner listen to Jeff
Rechkemmer talk about crop handling and drying. The grain
dryer is a Sukup system from Iowa.
Crop drying is an integral part of
the FarmGate Ukraine cropping
experience. They dry all their corn,
and a significant portion of their
soybeans and often have to dry
sunflowers. According to
Rechkemmer, the weather often
turns cool, cloudy and wet in
October and they have learned how
to harvest and handle crops at
moisture levels much higher than
we are used to coping with in Iowa.
FarmGate Ukraine has expanded
their drying capacity in recent
years.
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Figure 17 Brad Moeckly looks at a large flat storage building at
FarmGate Ukraine. During harvest they may pile wheat, barley
and rapeseed in separate piles in the same flat storage building.
While FarmGate Ukraine has
some grain bins, flat storage is also
an integral part of their grain
handling system. Dry grain is
stored in this flat storage, but it is
also out of this flat storage that
they “pay” a lot of their landlords
with grain. The typical lease rate
is a metric ton of wheat per
hectare, or its equivalent. Many of
the 1,000 or so local villagers that
own the land that FarmGate
Ukraine leases take a significant
portion of their rent in commodity
– wheat, barley or corn in 50 kilo
bags.
After a morning of touring
FarmGate Ukraine, we were
treated to a grand lunch. The table
was filled with traditional
Ukrainian dishes that were
prepared by the staff at FarmGate
Ukraine. Dishes included deviled
eggs, cucumber and tomato salad,
several styles of potatoes, borsch,
pork, lamb, fish, several homebaked breads, fruit, and a variety
of desserts. As is the Ukrainian
custom, there were some toasts.
Figure 18 Lunch at FarmGate Ukraine was a feast fit for royalty.
After lunch we traveled 150 km to
a dairy farm near Lityn. The dairy
is owned by the same group that
operates Roshen chocolate and
candy company which is very well
known in Ukraine. The dairy was
very clean and very well run. The
dairy has 650 head, including
young stock. The facility was built
with expansion in mind. The dairy
produced their own forages and a
significant portion of their grains.
Silage was stored in large bunkers.
Figure 19 Tim Kaldenberg, Dan Hanrahan and Luke Schuldt in a
barn at the Roshen dairy near Lityn, Ukraine.
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Calves at Roshen dairy were
raised in individual calf huts under
cover of a large open-sided
facility. The dairy raised all of its
replacement heifers and was
gearing up for expansion of the
milking herd. From Roshen dairy,
the group traveled to the city of
Vinnytsia where we stayed at the
hotel Podillya. We had dinner on
a veranda overlooking a city park
which had a WWII war memorial.
There were thousands of names on
of Vinnytsia veterans that lost
their lives in during WWII.
Figure 20 Calf hutches at Roshen dairy, Lityn, Ukraine
Day 3. (Wednesday, June 26, 2013) Vinnytsia – Man’Kivka.
As we began day 3, we happened
to stop for a brief time at a
roadside area just outside of
Vinnytsia to handle some
administrative items. Just across
the fence from where we stopped
was a lot where new tractors and
machinery were being stored. It
did not appear to be a dealer’s lot,
but just a place for storage and
possibly unloading from railcars
and transfer to trucks.
Figure 21 Dan Hanrahan and Carlton Kjos in front of new New
Holland tractors at a machinery lot near Vinnytsia
Figure 22 Truck load of soybean meal at NuScience Feedmill in
Haisyn, Ukraine
Our first scheduled stop of day 3
was at the NuScience feedmill in
Haisyn. NuScience is an investorowned facility with the primary
investors from the Netherlands.
This feedmill was 3 years old and
featured state of the art feed
processing and mixing equipment.
It is located adjacent to a soybean
processing mill. Feed from this
mill is sold to customers all across
Ukraine. Complete feeds make up
65% of the output of the mill,
concentrates 30%, and premixes
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5%. They ship feed in 25 kilo
bags, and 1 ton totes, and 20% of
their feed is delivered in bulk.
They produce feed for dairy
cattle, swine and poultry. The
feedmill at Haisyn has 2,500 tons
of storage capacity and they
produce about 2,500 tons of feed
per month. While they were close
to a rail siding, all of their raw
products (corn and soybean meal)
and outputs (feeds) are handled
via truck.
Figure 23 Vladimir Shramko ,the feedmill manager, tells the group
about order flows and handling the products.
Some feed manufacturers in
Ukraine use animal fats and
proteins in their feed. NuScience
does not. The manager of the
feedmill indicated that while there
are many other feedmillers in the
country and that there are feed
imports from Poland, he did not
feel that he had any other
competitors in Ukraine that could
provide the quality of feed and the
service that they were providing.
NuScience has 16 regional feed
managers and 3 nutritionists on
staff and conducted 4 seminars
Figure 24 Brad Moeckly, Luke Schuldt and Jim Boyer look at pallets per year to livestock operation
of feed concentrates ready for shipment
managers, veterinarians, and
animal health technicians. The
plant employs 17 people at the mill with 64 people in the country at 6 regional distribution
centers.
Figure 25 Ivan Yatsiv tells the group about crop production on the
12,500 hectare farm
After a nice lunch at an interesting
restaurant where we had a chance
to sample a Ukrainian delicacy
that is best described as raw
bacon, we visited a large Ag
Enterprise farm (12,500 hectares)
near Kresnakulka, although they
lease land from around 7 villages.
Nicholai, the farm director, told
the group about the farming
operation. On corn, they apply
600 liters of liquid nitrogen, 100
kg of diammonium phosphate,
100 kg of potash and 10 kg of
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lime per hectare. They plant about 18-25 kg of seed per hectare (26,000 to 34,000 seeds per
acre) with a seed cost of $65 per hectare ($26 per acre). He indicated that total variable costs
per hectare were $600 ($340/ac). They expect corn yields of 10 to 12 tons per hectare (150180 bushels per acre) and barley
yields of 6 tons per hectare (110
bushels per acre).
Ivan said that 2013 was shaping
up as an above average crop
production year. Rainfall had
been plentiful and temperatures
moderate. He indicated that
normal rainfall in this area of
Ukraine is 22-24 inches of rain
per year with most of that falling
during the crop production
season. The farm has 600,000
tons of grain storage. They feed all the corn they produce as the Ag Enterprise is a major
broiler meat producer and does some direct exporting of broiler meat.
Figure 26 Erwin Johnson and Ben Pullen look at the corn that was
planted in April 20th using 105 day corn.
We then went to a field where
they were harvesting winter
barley. There were 7 CLAAS combines working in the field. Grain was being hauled to the
farm storage in straight trucks that looked to hold about 350 bushels.
Figures 27 CLAAS combines unloading into a straight truck with a contrast of the old and the new.
As can be seen in the photo, there was a local villager passing by with a horse-drawn sickle
mower. It is likely that he was harvesting hay in some of the small plots that are located on
the edges of some of very large fields.
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Figure 28 A little rain was enough to turn the road into a
smeary mess. We were pulled to the blacktop by a John Deere
tractor.
And then it rained! To get to the next
farm which was about 100 km to the
northeast, we had to go over about
10 miles of dirt roads to reach the
farm. About an hour before we were
passing through, a light rain shower
hit the area dropping about a tenth of
an inch of rain. The road became a
slippery, smeary mess. The bus slid
to the side of the road, into a slight
roadside ditch. We were able to
push the bus out the first time and
went about another mile down the
road before sliding into the side ditch
again. This time we could not push
it out and Kees (Case) Huizinga
sent a tractor out to pull us the last 4
miles to the blacktop near the farm.
Kees (Case) Huizinga is an investorowner, operator of “Krychenka”, a
14,000+ hectare farm (35,000_
acres). Kees, a native of the
Netherlands, began farming in
Ukraine about 10 years ago. The
initial farming operation had 1,000
hectares. Kees said that when they
started farming there the fields were
full of weeds, and really had not
been farmed. They used a
moldboard plow to get started and
to begin the process of cleaning up
the fields and leveling them out.
Figure 29 Kees Huizinga and Adrienne Baughman in front of
one of his corn fields
Figure 30 Kees talks about a new tillage and fertilizer injection
implement that he just brought in from Germany.
Kees leases land from 10 villages
with more than 4,500 owners. Most
of their leases are 10-20 leases, so
Kees feels he has a bit of stability
even though they do not own the
land. Kees says, “The opportunity
for me just happened. In the
Netherlands there was no
opportunity to farm. If I had not
gone, here I would have gone to
South America or Africa.”
He brought in expertise for the
farm: Agronomist from Germany,
the swine director is from the
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Nethlands and dairy director is from Denmark. Local people are the bookkeepers and
they take care of the leases.
Their average field size is 350
hectares. Kees plants corn with a
John Deere DB120 corn planter.
When he unfolded the planter, he
planted more than 4,000 acres
before having to fold it again.
Kees diversifies his cropping
operation – planting corn,
sunflowers, winter wheat, winter
barley, spring barley, rapeseed,
and sugar beets. He also plants
about 300 hectares of vegetables
and is expanding vegetable
Figure 31 Kees Huizinga talks about the unique challenges and
production to increase the
opportunities of farming in Ukraine.
opportunities for local villagers to
find meaningful work as well as
increasing the profitability of the farm. He currently employs about 300 people on the farm.
The farm also has a dairy herd (400 cows) and some pigs. They want to expand the
dairy herd to 3,000 cows. They produce alfalfa for the dairy herd.
Keeping his machinery moving is one of the keys to his success. Kees says that by having
the crop diversity that the tractors and combines working in the fields nearly 6 months of the
year. This allows him to spread the fixed costs of machinery across many more acres. Kees
indicated that the local, Ukrainian implement dealerships were not providing adequate
service. He has begun importing implements and equipment directly from Germany, the
Netherlands and even the United States. The farm owns its own semi and implement lowboy trailer and they haul and set up their own equipment.
We finished day 3 by traveling a half
hour or so to the Aquadar Resort at
Man’Kivka. Prior to the break up of the
Soviet Union, Aquadar was a retreat for
high ranking government officials. At
Aquadar, we had a nice dinner. The
Niemeroff distillery had sent a number of
samples of their Vodka products for the
group to sample since a problem at the
Niemeroff distillery had prevented us
from visiting there earlier in the day. IN
the spirit of Ukrainian traditions, we had
several rounds of “toasts”.
Figure 32 The walkway at Aquadar
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Day 4 (Thursday, June 27, 2013) Man’Kivka to Mykolaiv
We began day 4 at the Kernel Grain
facility near Potash. This grain facility
is owned by an ag enterprise that farms
300,000 hectares and has 3 million
tons of grain storage at 6 locations
across Ukraine. This facility which
was built in 2006 has about 600,000
tons of storage and is in the process of
expanding their storage capacity.
Nearly all the materials and technology
at this facility are from the U.S. The
grain bins are GSI bins. The facility is
a primary handler of sunflowers, but
Figure 33 Kononovsky Grain Elevator, part of Kernel Grain at also handles other grains such as
Potash, Ukraine. Alexander Hasyn, manager
wheat, barley, rapeseed, soybeans and
corn. This facility receives grain by
truck and ships a substantial amount of that grain out by rail. Total throughput for the facility
is about 3 times its one-time capacity. The facility operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per
week from July through February.
From Kernel Grain, we traveled
southeast to UkrLand Farming. This
farm consisted of about 10,000
hectares (25,000 acres). The crops in
the area were not as robust as those
we had previously seen. While there
was still a moderate amount of corn
grown in the area, it was evident that
there were more small grains and
sunflowers and that the area had
received less moisture.
Figure 34 UkrLand Farming
From the quality and condition of the
equipment at UkrLand, it was evident
that they were less profitable and less
well capitalized that some of the other
farms that we had seen. It was also
clear that there were varying degrees
of management across the large
Ukrainian farms.
Figure 35 The UkrLand farm manager explains their farming
operation.
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Nibulon Grain in Mykolaiv was our
next stop. The Nibulon facility is
considered a seaport on the Black Sea,
although it is situated about 50 miles
upriver from the main body of the
Black Sea. Nibulon receives grain via
truck, rail and barge and ships grain via
ships through the Black Sea. The river
port facilities in Mykolaiv are
significant shippers of grain for export.
Nibulon grain operates 36 branches in
11 regions of the country and cultivates
more than 70,000 hectares of land.
Figure 36 Nibulon Grain facility in Mykolaiv
Nibulon is one of the largest grain
trader in Ukraine. In the latest
information, Nibulon has 11.5% of
the grain freight traffic, shipping an
estimated 4-5 million metric tons
per year. In 2011, Nibulon was the
third largest exporter of grain in
Ukraine. Their recent expansion has
enabled them to move to the top of
Ukraine grain exporters.
Figure 37 Aerial view of Nibulon Grain facility in Mykolaiv
Day 5 (Friday, June 28, 2013) Mykolaiv – Kakhovka Region
Figure 38 AMAKO dealership in Kherson.
Our first stop on day 5 was the AMAKO
machinery facility in Kherson. They
handle several lines of machinery
including Challenger, and AGCO
products. On the day we visited, they had
very little inventory on-site. They were
setting up a 2-way moldboard plow and
working on a few other items. According
to the AMAKO representative, their
service area and customer base was
spread across much of Ukraine. They did
most of their machinery sales from onfarm visits with their customers. There is
not a big internal trade in used
equipment.
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Figure 39 Older 4 Wheel Drive tractor pulling a field
cultivator in the Kakhovka Region.
From Kherson, we traveled east to Nova
Kakhovka where we had lunch at the
River Club on the Dnieper River. After
lunch, we crossed south of the river and
continued east into an area that got much
drier and where there are a lot of center
pivot irrigation rigs. The land in this part
of Ukraine is very flat and reminded one
of western Kansas, and maybe even west
Texas. The fields were very large and
many of the center pivots were designed
to cover a section of land. In this area,
small grains and sunflowers were the
dominant crops on the dryland fields and
corn was only found in irrigated fields.
It was over 100 degrees F when we
arrived at the Imperial Agro farm near
Stepne. Imperial Agro was founded by
Joe Parker, from Kentucky. Mr. Parker
was an original investor in a large
irrigated farm in the Kakhovka region in
the 1990s that was called “Freedom
Farms”. He sold his interest in that
enterprise and moved several hours
farther east to start Imperial Agro.
Imperial Agro has about 4,500 hectares
or cropland. About one-third of their
land is irrigated. They would like to
Figure 40 Irrigation circles dominate the land in parts of
irrigate more, but for the foreseeable
the Kakhovka Region
future they do not believe they will be
able to get any additional water from the
government-controlled and managed irrigation water supply agency. Since the farms do not
own the land, and the land is owned by many individuals with small acreages, the state also
owns the irrigation equipment. The farm leases the center pivots from the state.
Figure 41 Wheat is reloaded into a truck after it is
cleaned.
They were harvesting wheat when we
were at the Imperial Agro farm. The
wheat is hauled from the fields by straight
trucks and is dumped into a modern grain
dump and grain leg. The grain is
immediately run through a grain cleaner
and then reloaded into the truck so that
the clean grain can be moved to a flat
grain storage facility. About a third of the
grain produced at Imperial Agro is used
for seed, either on their own farm, but
also for sale to other farms in Ukraine.
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Figure 42 Straw bales on the Imperial Agro farm.
Figure 43 Fruit & Vegetable Market near Velyki Kaponi
Yields in this area of Ukraine were a bit
lower than those in central Ukraine,
particularly on the dryland areas, but it
appeared that the irrigated areas also had
slightly lower yield potential than what
we were seeing in the dark, black soil
areas 150 miles north of Odesa.
Straw was baled on the wheat and
barley fields that surrounded the
irrigated corn fields. The straw bales
were very light, (about 20 lbs) as it was
quite easy to lift a bale in each hand
above one’s head. Imperial Agro has a
livestock enterprise that can use the
straw as bedding.
On the way back to Mykolaiv, we
stopped at an open air fruit and
vegetable market near Velyki Kopani.
This is a very large market with
hundreds, if not thousands of vendors
and buyers. It operates 24 hours per
day, seven days per week. The typical
vendor was operating out of the back of
a pick-up truck or small straight truck
although there were larger trucks both
buying and selling produce. Another
common sight was a car stuffed full of
produce (passenger seat, back seat,
trunk, etc) and often pulling a small
trailer stuffed full. This market is
capitalism at its basest form.
Competitive forces are clearly at work
here with quality and quantity, playing
a major role in the pricing of the
produce.
A wide variety of products were
available at the market, summer
vegetables, root crops, melons, squash,
leaf crops, and spices. There were
many crops not found in Iowa that
could be purchased at this market.
Figure 44 Matt Danner, Randy Pitman and Adrienne
Baughman look at spices for sale at the market.
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Day 6 (Saturday, June 29, 2013) Mykolaiv – Lukashivka – Odesa
And now for something different! We
left Mykolaiv and traveled north for
several hours to Lukashivka where we
toured a decommissioned Soviet
InterContinental Ballistic Missile site
that has been turned into a museum.
After the break up of the Soviet Union,
and as a part of the agreements to
reduce nuclear arms, the missile sites
in Ukraine were decommissioned.
The Ukrainians that lived and worked
near this missile site were instrumental
in preserving the site and turning it
into a museum.
Figure 45 Decommissioned missiles at the Lukashivka site
The guide at the site explains the
construction and design of the missile
silos and missile control facilities.
The model shown here depicts the 12
levels of the missile control bunkers.
The actual missile activation was
done on the next to the bottom level.
Three workers would go down to the
activation level and stayed there for
the duration of their shift. In the case
of attack or other alert activation,
there were sufficient supplies there
for the workers to remain down there
for a significant time period.
Figure 46 Model of the 12 levels of the missile control facility
Figure 47 --10, 9, 8 7 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Launch! Why does a scene
from one of the James Bond movies come to mind?
As a part of the tour, we were able to
go down into the control facilities to
the area where the launch controls
were housed. There we participated
in a simulated launch sequence where
two of us inputted launch sequence
codes and then I pushed the button to
launch the missiles which would have
had a warhead that was programmed
to strike 10 locations. (Sorry New
York and Washington DC, you are
history!) The experience was both
exhilarating and a bit unnerving at
the same time when one considers
that these missile were aimed at us
for 40 years.
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Figure 49 Newer equipment at Suzirya farm.
Figure 48 8-row sunflower planters at Suzirya farm
After lunch (yes, that is lunch, not
launch) we traveled about 4 hours
to what seemed the middle of
nowhere to dryland farm,
Suzirya, which was located near
Novopetrivka. The roads into
and out of this farm were
probably the worst we
experienced. The farm had quite
a bit of older equipment that was
still in use, but were updating
their equipment as new capital
infusions of investor funds
allowed. Like most Ukrainian
farms, their machinery yard was
under guard 24 hours per day and
they indicated that a significant
portion of their labor costs were
for security. Suzirya farm was
increasing their emphasis on
sunflowers. The primary crops on
this farm were sunflowers, wheat,
barley and rapeseed. They had
tried growing corn, but were not
growing corn any more as it was
not a reliable crop given their
moisture conditions. They had 4
new 8-row sunflower planters.
Security was a significant
concern for this farm.
Day 7 (Sunday, June 30, 2013)
Odesa area
The ADM-Ukraine grain facility
at the port of Odesa is a modern,
efficient grain handling facility.
The steel grain bins at the facility
have been built in the past 5 to 7
years and are from a U.S. grain bin
company. The new shiploading
facility can load a ship in about 3
days. The facility can hold enough
grain for about 1 month’s
operations and they “turn” the
facility about 12 times per year.
The facility can receive grain via
truck and rail, but the vast majority
of their grain arrives via truck.
Figure 50 ADM grain facility at Odesa
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The “white” concrete grain silos are
part of the old state-owned grain
terminal at Odesa. The truck
dumping facility for ADM-Ukraine
lies behind (to the right) of the old
concrete silos and is connected to
the shiploading facility and steel
grain bin storage via conveyor belts.
The modernization and investment
being made by the large, multinational grain companies in Black
Sea export capacity is significant.
Figure 51 White concrete silos are the State-owned grain export
facility
After the water-side and land-side
tours of the ADM-Ukraine grain
export facility, we went to the
Privoz Market in Odesa. The
Privoz Market is a large market that
features both indoor and outdoor
stalls and sales areas. Anything and
everything can be bought at the
Privoz Market – fresh meats, fish,
vegetables, dry goods, clothing,
hardware supplies, electronics, and
about anything else one could think
of.
Figure 52 Privoz Market in Odesa
Figure 53 Fresh fish and cherry tomatoes at the Privoz Market
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Day 8 (Monday, July 1, 2013) Odesa – Galati
Figure 54 Map of the AgroPrime hog facility near Bolgrad.
Day 8 started with a long bus
ride. We drove for about 4 hours
to south west Ukraine. Near the
city of Bolgrad, we visited a
large Ag Enterprise called Agro
Prime. Agro Prime operates
about 600,000 hectares (1.5
million acres) at 40+ locations
across Ukraine. The site we
visited was a new farrow-tofinish hog facility and grain
storage/feedmill facility. The
unit has about 3,500 sows. They
produce 28 pigs per sow per
year. The unit practices strong
biosecurity measures, so we did
not enter the buildings.
The director of the Bolgrad Agro
Prime farm is one of the few
women that we encountered
leading an agricultural
enterprise.
After Agro Prime, and lunch in
Bolgrad, we drove to the border
crossing near Galati, Romania.
At this crossing, the road goes
through about about 4 km of
Moldova before reaching
Romania. Crossing the border
was quite time consuming. It
took an hour or so to complete
the process of exiting Ukraine;
Figure 55 The director of the Bolgrad Agro Prime farm and the chief
an hour or so to enter Moldova,
agronomist.
then a 5 minute drive to the
southwestern Moldova border
where we repeated the process, an hour to exit Moldova and an hour to enter Romania. In all,
it took about 4 ½ hours to travel 4 kilometers. It appeared that this was the “norm” at this
crossing and trucks and individual cars were taking about the same amount of time to cross.
For southwest Ukraine, this is a real barrier to commerce as the port in Odesa is a 3 to 4 hour
drive away whereas the port of Constanta, Romania is only about 50 miles away.
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Romania
Day 9 (Tuesday, July 2, 2013) Galati – Eforie Nord
Day 9 began with a short drive
from Galati toward Braila, then
on to the farm of Constantin
Iorgoveanu. Contantin and his
son, Bebe, farm about 1,500
hectares. They grow corn,
sunflowers, wheat, barley and
rapeseed. They used to grow
soybeans when they had access
to Round-up Ready soybeans,
but when Romania joined the
European Union, the use of
GMO seeds was prohibited.
Constantin indicated that he
would plant 50% of his farm
Figure 56 Constantin Iorgaoveanu at a field of seed corn being grown
to soybeans if he could use
for Syngenta
Round-up Ready soybeans.
Constantin produces seed corn for Syngenta and used Syngenta and Pioneer seed. Constantin
was very optimistic about the future of agriculture in Romania. He felt that they had soils
and climate and access to markets that would allow them to be very competitive within the
European Union and also competitive in world markets.
Constantin was in the
process of bringing his son
into the farming operation.
His son had recently
graduated from college with
an engineering degree and
he was excited about the
potential to expand the farm
and build up the family farm
business. Bebe spoke very
good English and said most
of his classmates also
studied English.
Figure 57 Bebe, Constantin's son talks with Matt Danner and Ben Bader.
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Figure 58Mircea Laurenscu, Veterinarian for the dairy explains their
breeding program
Figure 59 Stephan Marin shows us a unique forage mix they use on
the farm.
About 30 miles away, we visited
a dairy farm owned and operated
by Stephan Marin. He was a
retired airline pilot that began
farming about 10 years ago. The
dairy is currently milking about
250 cows and is planning on
doubling the herd once the quotas
that were established when
Romania joined the European
Union are ended. The quota
restrictions are currently
scheduled to end in 2014. The
farm bought its original cows
from Germany and now uses
artificial insemination with Dutch
and German genetics to improve
the herd.
Since they are producing near
their quota of milk, they are
saving back heifers and working
on improving and expanding
from their own stock. The dairy
meets or exceeds all EU
regulatory requirements and is
hopeful that this will open up new
markets for them once they are
allowed to expand milk
production. The farm produces
all of its own feed and feeds a
complete feed mix. One of the
forages that it uses is a baled
mixture of alfalfa, grass, peas,
and a couple other high-protein
lentil-type plants.
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Figure 60 Massey Ferguson dealership in Romania
This Massey Ferguson dealer and
machinery lot was located a bit
south of the Marin dairy farm. In
Romania, the infrastructure for
agriculture was much more similar
to U.S. agricultural infrastructure
than what we saw in Ukraine. In
eastern Romania, there were a
number of grain elevators visible
across the countryside, we saw
machinery dealers, lumber yards,
and other infrastructure that just
was not visible in Ukraine.
Our final stop of the day was at the
Murfatlar winery. . Murfatlar is
the largest winery in Romania.
The winery has about 3,500
hectares of grapes and buys some
grapes from other local producers.
The vineyards of the winery lie on
both sides of the Danube River and
the view from the winery across the
Danube valley is quite scenic.
Figure 61 Vineyards at Mutfatlar Winery stretching out towards
the Danube River valley
Wine is produced in nearly all
regions of Romania. Wine
production in Romania dates back
several thousand years. Some of
the wine press items in the museum
at the Murfatlar winery were nearly
a 1,000 years old, and other
artifacts were from the time of the
Roman Empire.
Figure 62 The managers of Murfatlar shows us a map of
Romania's wine producing areas.
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The Black Sea is not only a major
source of grain exports, but it is also
a major tourist area for southeast
Europe. We spent the night on the
cost of the Black Sea at a resort
town called Eforie Nord. There was
a permanent “fair” or “carnival” and
many stores and night clubs on the
shore of the Black Sea.
Figure 63 A view of the Black Sea from the balcony of the hotel at
Eforie Nord.
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Day 10 (Wednesday, July 3, 2013) Eforie Nord – Bucharest
Figure 64 Unloading a barge of wheat at the Port of Constanta.
They use clamshells to handle the grain to minimize damage.
We began Day 10 with a tour of
the Port of Constanta. The Port of
Constanta lies on the western side
of the Black Sea just a few miles
from where the Danube River
enters the Black Sea. The port can
handle Panamax sized ships. They
are the largest volume port on the
Black Sea. The port can load ships
at the rate of 1,600 tons per hour
which allows them to load a ship in
2 to 3 days. The port is a major
export point for wheat, sunflower,
barley, corn and rapeseed. They
handle imported soybean meal
from Brazil and Argentina. They
used to handle wheat from the
U.S., but not since 2004.
The port of Constanta has built
substantial new grain storage in
the past decade with most of it
being built in the past 3 years.
Minmetal has built most of the
port’s new grain storage capacity
with a 36 million Euro investment
in 2010. The port has enough
storage to handle about 1 months’s
typical shipments. Total
throughput of the port is about 12
times their storage capacity. The
port is equipped to receive grain
via truck, barge and rail and ships
outgoing grain via ship.
Figure 65 Grain storage built by Minmetal Corporation in 2010 at
the Port of Constanta.
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Figure 66 Large grain elevator in southeastern Romania.
As we traveled toward Bucharest,
this country grain elevator was
visible from the highway. In
southeastern Romania there were
several elevators of similar size.
The grain handling infrastructure of
southeastern Romania looked better
than many of the grain handling
facilities we saw in Ukraine,
although a number of the large
AgriHolding companies in Ukraine
were putting new investment in
grain handling equipment. The
surge in exports from the Black Sea
region is likely to level off, but there
is no indication that it will decline
any time soon.
Monica Dobrescu, Agricultural
Specialist at the American Embassy
in Bucharest gave us an overview of
Romanian agriculture and talked
about some of the challenges and
opportunities that Romania has had
associated with their entry into the
European Union. Romanian
farmers were using GMO corn and
soybeans prior to entry into the
European Union, but one of the
concessions to the EU was that they
would not produce GMO grains or
oilseeds for EU trade.
Figure 67 Monica Dobrescu, AG Specialist at the US Embassy in
Bucharest briefed the group on Romanian agriculture.
Figure 68 Romanian Parliament building
The Parliament building in
Bucharest was built by the former
communist dictator Nicolai
Ceaucescu. It is the world's largest
civilian building with an
administrative function, most
expensive administrative building,
and heaviest building. At the time
of Ceaucescu’s 1989 overthrow and
execution, the building structure
and design were complete.
Subsequently, many of the
furnishings were never installed
(mostly evident because of the
many large, empty spaces
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throughout the palace), while the last three basement levels and a large clock tower (that
would display the official Romanian time) were never finished. During the regime change,
the new leaders of Romania referred to the building as the House of Ceauşescu, to highlight
the excessive luxury in which Ceauşescu would have lived, in stark contrast to the squalor
and poverty endured by many people living in Romania at the time.
Day 11 (Wednesday, July 4, 2013) Bucharest – Bran & Brasov – Bucharest
Figure 69 Countryside view in Transylvania near Bran.
Our final day of the trip was a bit
more relaxing. We left Bucharest
and traveled a couple hours
northwest to the Transylvania
area. This part of Romania is
more mountainous, with
landscapes that are similar to
Appalachia. The farms were
small, and there was minimal
cropping in the area. Most of the
countryside that was not forested,
was in grass or hay. There were
some dairy cattle evident, but in
this area, there were a lot more
sheep grazing than we had seen
elsewhere.
Near the city of Bran is Castle
Bran – or Dracula’s Castle, as it
is more commonly known. This
castle seems to be part of the
inspiration for Bram Stoker’s
Dracula story. Bram Stoker
wrote the book he called Dracula
inspired by the Middle Ages
prince from Transylvania who
had a lust for blood. The story
and biography of Vlad Dracula
(or Vlad the Impaler) which
contains interesting information,
facts & the history about the life
of this Medieval person of
historical fame. The Medieval
period
of the Middle Ages were
Figure 70 Bran Castle, commonly called Dracula's Castle
extremely blood thirsty. The
terrible forms of execution and Middle Ages torture were commonplace. But the atrocities of
Vlad Dracula were some of the most infamous. Vlad Dracula was cruel and totally merciless,
without doubt he was a sadist. Even when he was imprisoned his lust for blood continued - he
captured and tortured birds. The very number of his victims made him infamous as one of
the cruelest of all princes. He had more than 40,000 people impaled in a period of two years
(1457-1459) in Transylvania. Interestingly, Vlad Dracula only spent a few nights at this
particular castle and never “lived” there.
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Figure 71 The owner of a restaurant in Bran and a local sheep
farmer.
After the visit to Bran Castle, we
walked to a restaurant a few blocks
away for lunch. The restaurant
owner is a local sheep farmer.
While he serves lamb from his
flock at the restaurant, he also
serves a variety of artisan cheeses
that he makes from the milk from
his sheep. The sheep’s milk
cheeses were very tasty as was the
lamb. This farmer had found a
great mix of agriculture that fit his
land, and serving a tourist public
that was brought to this area by the
castle.
From Bran, we traveled about a
half hour to the city of Brasov.
(Brasov is where our tour guide,
Maria, attended high school.) In
Brasov, we visited the local
market. It was a very lively and
well stocked market with a wide
variety of local fruits, vegetables,
herbs, and some meats. The
market was “under roof” but with
lots of individual stalls or vendor
booths within the building.
Figure 72 Local Vegetable market at Brasov
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At the Brasov market, there was a machine that
dispensed fresh milk into 2.5 liter bottles. On
the side of the machine were pictures of cows
from the farm where the milk was produced.
Figure 73 Milk Dispenser at the Brasov market.
Attached to the Brasov market
was a small
deli/butchershop/dry goods
store. They had fresh meats in
the meatcase. At 21.99/kg, the
pork in the case is priced at
$3.12 per lb.
Figure 74 Meat case in the butchershop at Brasov market
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We did a walking tour of
Brasov and then spent about a
half hour visiting the local
shops. Brasov, as a village,
dates back to 1235 AD. It is
best known as the location of
the Biserica Neagră or Black
Church. It is a cathedral in
Brașov, a city in south-eastern
Transylvania, Romania. It was
built by the German community
of the city in the 1400s and
stands as the main Gothic style
monument in the country, as
well as being the largest
Lutheran church in the region.
Figure 75 The city square of Brasov.
Our final stop was Rhein &
Company winery. We were
warmly greeted by the manager
of the winery. We received a
very nice tour of the winery
with a demonstration of
bottling sparkling wines and an
explanation of some of the
differences in sparkling wines.
Taken over by the communists
after WWII, the winery was run
as a state-owned business, but
is now being revived as a
private business.
Figure 76 The manager of Rhein & Company Winery greets Jim Boyer
as we arrive at the winery.
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Comments from Participants in the Black Sea Region Study Tour about Advantages
and Disadvantages for Agriculture in Ukraine and Romania
From Ben Pullen -- I was surprised about the scale of agriculture in Ukraine. I think this is
both an advantage and a disadvantage in their competiveness with the U.S. Their scale
allowed for a much more effective use of machinery, allowed for a limit of travel time, and
could be very efficient however it was evident that some of the farms were poorly managed
due to this scale. Management styles differ among the farms, and it was evident the farms
where they people were just employees and the ones where the workers had a stake in and
pride of their operation.
I was also very surprised by the low input costs and high returns the farms in Ukraine
quoted. We had a discussion about this in the bus, how the current position of American
Agriculture, specifically the high inputs and low returns, is what is going to keep cooperate
farming from becoming prevalent in America. If we were able to make ourselves
competitive with areas such as Ukraine we would also be opening ourselves up to losing our
heart held traditions of family run farms, kind of a double edged sword.
Although the farms there have an advantage in scale and inputs they are very
disadvantaged by infrastructure and pride. As we were able to experience on many
occasions the infrastructure in especially Ukraine left a lot to be desired. It appeared to
me that at one point there was a great deal of infrastructure in the country; from roads,
to water ducts, steam heating pipes, rail lines, irrigation equipment, etc. but it appears
little has been done to keep any of it up. The farms in the dry area of the country talked
about a lack of ability to water crops due to a limitation in the state owned irrigation
equipment and we can attest hauling crops to market on those roads must be both a
chore an and adventure every time you venture out. The nice grain handling facilities
that we toured were privately owned, and only handled their company’s produce. I
think this area is not only a competitive advantage for the United States but also can
serve as a warning, that if we do not place an emphasis on maintaining what we have
we could end up with what they have in a relatively short amount of time.
The biggest surprise from the trip was the discussion of GMO’s. As we knew going in
Ukraine was not allowed to have GMO’s yet 70% of their soybeans were “Roundup
Ready”. Everywhere we went, people quoted that statistic although they all said they
did not deal with them. While in Romania we toured the port where we saw a Quonset
full of imported GMO soybean meal. The guide commented that they imported soybean
meal from abroad since they were not allowed to raise GMO’s they needed to get it from
elsewhere where it was raised. This got many of us thinking, if they were able to raise
GMO’s then they would possibly go from an importer of soybean products to an
exporter, a customer to a competitor. (Now it should be mentioned that the soybean meal
was from Brazil and not the U.S.) But this idea was reiterated when we visited a Romanian
farm where the farmers said if he were allowed to raise GMO’s he would be 50% corn 50%
soybeans, it was again brought up at a meeting the U.S. embassy’s agriculture representative.
I know the position of many farm groups is to convince the European Union to allow for
GMO’s to expand acceptance and thus market, but this trip seemed to suggest that if the EU
were to accept this stance we would be facing much more competition instead.
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From Matt Danner -- Ukraine has advantages of size/scale of the farms, climate for
more crops than the Midwest, and available land. The scale gives them a bit of a cost
production edge over Midwest farms, in addition to very few crop damaging storms.
Ukraine is disadvantaged in the ability to secure competitive financing, transportation
(poor roads), and no current ability to own land (build land equity). The overall
stability of their economy is a bit shaky based on them being somewhat forced to join
the EU or Russian Pact and this in turn determines the crops they will plant (GMO or
non GMO)
The properly operated/managed AgroHoldings are not going to go away anytime soon
and the locals along with the government needs to understand this and mange for it in
the future. Their competition is not within 500 miles of their operation, it is the well
managed operations of the Midwest and we need to be prepared to compete with
500,000 acre farms very soon, especially if they are allowed to raise GMO crops. The
earth will quickly become flatter and flatter as they produce more and higher quality
bushels.
Romania is well on their way to becoming a prosperous economy with adequate
infrastructure (roads & waterways), availability to decent credit, and long term
property ownership. The railways in Romania are holding the country back a bit but I
think this will turn around in the near term. The lack of moisture overall will be a
determent to growth if they continue to plant non-GMO crops as part of the EU contract.
Both countries have an unlimited ag workforce for crop and livestock production unlike
the USA. I could see some of the better managers taking advantage of this soon with
higher dollar crops in the vegetable arena and dairy enterprises.
I observed that in both countries the government had very little understanding as to
what is/was taking place out on the farms. The further removed they are the better off
both parties will be.
Doug Gronau -- Ukraine advantages: Great soil resources, underutilized soil (idle land)
and building sites, large fields, great equipment efficiency (24 hr), abundant work force,
integrated operations (vertical), lack of environmental rules of any kind, ability to have
crop rotations with winter cereals and rape, winter crops spread equipment use, great
advantage in cost of production and rents, favourable long term leases, ability to use
modern hybrids (Mycogen, Monsanto, Pioneer, Kitchen), no sign of corn rootworm, little
heavy rainfall, most rain in the growing season, access to the most modern equipment,
& most have trained mechanics on staff
Ukraine disadvantages: Poor road conditions, no land sales and land in small parcels,
lack of ability to put permanent improvements on the land (rental property), security
issues and theft, far north latitudes, much biomass removed from the land over
centuries, lack of GMO endorsement from central governments, not enough
infrastructure, some land not leased in large parcels, social responsibilities of large
tenants to villages, old communist leaders still in the government, lack of a nearby
equipment dealers network and repair capability, & hard to get local credit to be
competitive.
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Romania advantages: ability to own agricultural land, more responsive government (n0
communist influence), better roads and infrastructure, good access to EU technology,
relatively large parcels of land, favourable rents, EU support system, better credit
access.
Romania disadvantages: more EU regulations, interest may be in Euro’s, still many
landlords.
Adrienne Baughman – One issue that stood out to me is the irrigation snafus and the water
rights issues between Ukrainians and their “Government”. This is a distinct disadvantage to
growers, because it affects their ability to scale up production and to fully utilize the land
resources.
On the competitive side, the ports in Ukraine and Romania look up to Rotterdam, NL, and
try to compete within that formidable port and its paradigm. The North Sea to Black Sea
connections were really highlighted on this trip.
On the Romanian side, I was deeply struck by how almost all of the people under-sold
themselves, their skills and products. They need to really get a better understanding of
marketing and all the implications of being in competitive markets as compared to the
centrally-controlled and dictated markets that they had under communism. I’m not sure
where the disconnect is, but just buying a bottle of wine at a place we visited as a group
seemed like a complete afterthought to those managers. It baffled me.
Erwin Johnson – The advantages I see are: Lower costs of production; economies of scale;
Variety and diversity of crops & livestock; efficiency in machinery utilization.
Their disadvantages are: lack of infrastructure (roads and rail); climate (short growing
season); Old Soviet state farm mentality; GMO technology not available; and lack of water
(11-17 inches of rain).
During our study tour to Ukraine and Romania we visited numerous farms, wineries, grain
storage facilities, and export facilities. At each stop we were hosted by owners, managers,
directors, public relations officials, etc. who patiently answered our questions or queries
about their operations. Our schedule was full of activities form early in the morning to late in
the evening every day. The only down time was the bus trip travel between stops. Our group
used this travel time to sleep, talk, compare notes, learn about each other, joke and
occasionally tease. On the whole, we were a congenial travel group.
My comments are about the Ukrainians and Romanians that we met on our travels. I choose
to talk about the people we encountered in general and not specific individuals. I have read
and come to believe that a person's eyes are the key to their soul. Thus, as we met and talked
with our various hosts, their co-workers, families, and employees, I focused on observing
their eyes. What I observed was a gentle confidence, enthusiasm, warmth, friendliness, and
pride. Most of our contacts centered around agriculture. My take-home conclusion from their
non-verbal communications are that they will be leading or be a part of a growing aggressive
agriculture that possesses a bright future with a "can-do" attitude.
This positive impression of their attitudes and character are in stark contrast to the attitudes of
agricultural people that I met in the 1990's while working and traveling in the Czech
Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Russia. Observing people's eyes that I met during that
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period in general suggested some despair, hopelessness, fatigue, boredom and fear. Today,
the people in agriculture in Eastern and Central Europe taken as a whole are experiencing a
new era of positive development and outlook for the future. The optimism that I observed in
the people we met suggests that the Black Sea region is going to be more of a competitor in
the global economy of the production of agricultural products.
Our IFBF Black Sea study tour was an eye-opener for me as I gained greater knowledge and
understanding of the Black Sea land and its people.
Larry Sailer -- The Ukraine, known as the Breadbasket of Europe, has rich, black dirt
similar to what we see in Iowa. The biggest difference is there is three times as much soil
here! Imagine rich, Iowa f arm ground that is the size of Texas. I’m convinced there is a huge
amount of ground in this region with a huge potential to raise more food than is currently
being produced. Much of this farmland has been sitting idle, waiting f or the proper political
climate and f or the right farmers with the know-how to get‘er done.
It needs farmers like Iowa Farm Bureau member Jeff Rechkemmer, who’s from Oelwein in
Northeast Iowa but has f armed in Ukraine about a decade. Jeff says there are many
similarities between f arming in Iowa and Ukraine. Like in Iowa, his most profitable
Ukrainian crops are corn and soybeans. Most of the tractors on his Ukrainian f arm are John
Deere models that were made in Waterloo.
Our Farm Bureau group came with questions about how this region can compete with Iowa
for export markets. We wondered if farmers here can produce food as inexpensively as we
can. Our questions include: What are their yields? What are their input costs? Are they
sustainable? Is their infrastructure adequate? Can they get the product out of their country at a
price that competes with ours? What is the quality of their grain? What crops do they grow?
More from Larry: We came upon The Mother of all Farmer’s Markets in Ukraine! This
wholesale market is open 24 hours daily, 7 days each week. Massive amounts of fruits and
vegetables are sold from any type of vehicle from large f arm trucks to horse carts. Now keep
in mind it was about 100 degrees the day we visited, so much of this fresh produce was
literally baking in the sun. And it didn’t smell like apple pie either! It smelled down right
awful. Cleanliness wasn’t a priority, and it didn’t seem like food safety was either.
Later we visited the Odessa Privos Market, a large, public market that was founded in 1827.
Tiny booths are lined up f or blocks, and it seems as though you can buy anything there – as
long as you could fight your way through the crowd. Some of this market is under roof, and
that’s where you can buy just about any animal part imaginable! There also was a lot – and I
do mean a lot – of fish for sale.
I couldn’t help contrast these two markets with the U.S. farmer’s markets that I’ve visited. It
seems that even the smallest Iowa communities have a local market at least once a week with
markets held more frequently in larger cities like Des Moines. The streets around Court
Avenue in downtown Des Moines are blocked on Saturday mornings, so people of all ages
can enjoy a leisurely stroll while they choose from a variety of wonderful smelling fresh
cooked foods and fresh brewed coffee. All of the vendors display their wares so neatly, and
most have tents that shade their produce from the blistering summer sun. Farmers sell meat in
Des Moines from refrigerated trucks. Plus there are many beautiful fresh flowers, fruits and
vegetables for sale. Interestingly enough, many Eastern Europeans don’t realize how many
fresh fruits and vegetables Americans eat. Our tour guide in Romania was under the
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assumption that all we eat is processed foods and sweets. “Junk food” isn’t something they
have broad access to, and there is a concern the health of their kids may decline as new
technology streams into Eastern Europe. As their standard of living improves, how will this
change their culture?
Culture definitely changes as people move up the “hierarchy of needs.” Eastern Europeans
are no longer dependent upon the government to provide them with basics like food. When
they were under the control of the Soviet Union, Ukrainians raised more food in their
backyards than they did on the collective f arms. The Soviets moved many village people into
high-rise cement apartment buildings, trying to force them into working on the collective
farms. Since it’s hard to grow food without soil, hungry people were motivated to work on
the collective f arms. Even before the Soviets gained control, small villages were under a
feudal system. After years of oppression, Ukrainians are making great strides now. Their
biggest challenge is developing infrastructure and markets. It’s hard to get crops to market
when trucks keep getting stuck! But, they have so many rich natural resources. I have no
doubt the Ukraine will play a key role in helping feed the growing world population.
Dirck Steimel -- Farmers on the Iowa Farm Bureau Black Sea study tour found themselves
in a severe state of envy recently as they toured thriving corn fields in Ukraine. Who could
blame them?
The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation tour to the Black Sea region is designed to help Iowans
learn about this part of the world, which is expected to be a big competitor for Iowa crop
exports in the coming years. But even half-way around the world it’s hard to not think about
home. When the participants talked with people back in Iowa, or checked the radar on their
smartphones, they heard about more heavy rains in parts of Iowa and another round of
flooding. That was not going to help the corn in the Hawkeye State, the U.S. leader in corn
production. But this year much of the state’s corn is short, stunted and badly in need of a
good dose of heat and sunshine.
That’s what made it so hard to visit a farm in Krasopilka, Ukraine. It took only a glimpse to
see that the corn there was 8-foot tall, green and ready to start the all-important pollination
process. In short, it looked perfect, just like Iowa corn is supposed to look this time of year.
“It makes me sick to look at,” joked Brad Moeckly, a farmer from Elkhart. The perfectlooking corn fields were a long, long stretch ahead of the ones in Iowa, he said.
Blake Anderson, a Nodaway farmer and soon to be ag teacher, noted how the fertile
landscape at the Ukraine farm looked a lot like parts of Iowa. But, he added, “The corn does
look a lot better here.”
Erwin Johnson of Charles City said he would gladly trade a field of his struggling corn for
one of those in Ukraine. He doubted that he’d get any takers.
After last year’s drought and a little too much rain this year, you couldn’t blame the Iowa
farmers for being just a touch envious when they looked at the nearly-perfect corn fields in
this part of Ukraine. But then, as several said, that’s the way agriculture is. You just never
know what the weather will bring. Who knows, maybe next year it will be Ukraine’s turn to
fight difficult growing conditions. That’s just part of farming and of putting in the hard work
and taking the risks to feed people around the world. It’s just what farmers do.
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Dan Hanrahan – “Ring Them Bells” Towards the end of our journey through Ukraine, we
finally settled down into the port of Odessa. Gone now were the rough and winding roads
which occasionally ended in dead ends yet unmapped. Gone as well were the mass of people
traveling with us along them, by horse cart or motorcycle, in old communist cars or over
crowded city buses, by feet bare or adorned with high heels. Gone for the moment were the
rural villages with their houses guarded by concrete walls, which held livestock in and the
West seemingly out.
It seemed the only rural fingers which made their way into this port town were grain and
stray dogs. The latter we later found was in fact an urban finger which had made its way out.
Unlike other towns, here in Odessa there were no crumbling concrete edifices of old
communist apartment buildings, with outer walls covered in air conditioning units, latticed
with random wires, and housing balconies enclosed in plywood. We didn’t pass sprawling
factories now abandoned. There were tree line streets and mowed grass and even lovers here
and there. The party members had vacationed here, one of us observed, and they were wise
enough not to shit where they slept.
This they had in common with the stray dogs, but commonality ended here. The dogs were
indifferent about where they vacationed.
At the port we found the Black Sea, and it lay open ahead of us. At its shore were tied up
cruise ships, barges, dinghies and yachts with names like “Lady Luck.” Towering above them
in the nearby shipyards and loading docks were massive cranes, yet despite their scale they
were unable, even at the great sea’s shore, to reach its bottom. They busied themselves
instead with what floated on top of it.
Above the boats and below the cranes, at the furthest point of our pier, was an Orthodox
church. From its far end against the sea, rose a bell tower. It was Sunday morning. At this
tower every 15 minutes or so, a boy appeared, darkly tanned, dressed in jean shorts and a tshirt. Among the collection of bells within the tower he would hammer. He hammered well.
Were Odessa silent, the bells would ring as far inland as they did out to sea. This boy
straddled the coast. I began to reflect on what I had seen.
Near the beginning of the journey we had visited an American. In touring his farming
operation, one could get a sense by how he spoke that he had considerable money invested in
it. He fed us a large lunch of traditional Ukrainian staples, as well as beer and vodka. I ate to
my heart’s content, as his Ukrainian cooks, both markedly attractive, brought out course after
course.
He had made an observation which I think it was the best of the tour. “The Ukrainian villager
may not have a satellite dish, but they are highly literate, much more so than we are. I don’t
mean a higher percentage of the population can read. I have no idea about that. What I mean
is that a higher percentage does read. All the houses have books, and they are not just any
books, but Tolstoy and all the other Russian and Ukrainian greats.”
He read too. “If you want to get a handle on what these people have faced, read The
Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder.”
On our way, passing fields worked by new tractors and harvested by new combines, a lone
horse cart sat on one end of a five acre field. Working here was a solitary man with a pitch
38 | P a g e
fork. He was turning over a field of hay. In the countryside there were no fences, and in a day
or two we would begin to find 2 or 3 people keeping watch over the village’s cows or sheep
for the day.
It was also impossible to find a town that didn’t have a World War II memorial adorned with
the names of the dead. These were erected for the glory of communism, but remained for the
men who died for their homeland while communism was riding its coattails. No monument
existed for the greater number laid low in the fight to cut the coattails off.
A silent monument that does remain can be found in how land is leased, and nearly all the
land is leased, for there is no open land market in Ukraine. The whole country is held in small
5-10 acre chunks by villagers, and assembled into much larger tracts by their tenants. This is
how things have operated since the fall of communism, though this new arrangement is still
impacted by the old one.
1932-1933 was what some call the Holodomor (Extermination by hunger) in Ukraine. Stalin
had seized their wheat, and by spring 1933 general estimates are that around 3.5 million
people had starved to death. The Soviets did the best they could. They printed posters
warning the peasants to refrain from cannibalism, and prosecuted 2500 for doing it.
To this day most villagers take their rent in bags of wheat, not cash. If God hates a coward, I
should think it harder for Him to find one here than other places. Perhaps I am sentimental.
When we first landed in Ukraine, we spoke with a government representative who lamented
the fact that the farms were so large. The large tenants, or Agri-Holdings as they are known,
control 40% of the soil in Ukraine. He estimated around 150 persons controlled over 15
million acres. He wanted to break this up.
His country hardly had the infrastructure in equipment and roads to support any more farmers
at all, and the tenants provided more aid for the villages than the government could from its
cold and corrupt fingers. I am not saying things are perfect in the countryside, but what I am
saying is this: Idealists keep us honest, but the world is not ideal, and I would be surprised if
Idealism hasn’t killed and starved as many people as all our combined base desires we
separate it from.
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Ukraine
Land Reforms & Changes in Land Use
Ukraine agriculture has been evolving since it achieved independence in 1991, following the
breakup of the Soviet Union. State and collective farms were officially dismantled in 2000,
although some dissolution of the large collective farms began in the early 1990s. Farm
property was divided among the farm workers in the form of land shares comprising 2.5 to 10
hectares. Most of the new shareholders leased their land back to newly-formed private
agricultural associations called “agri-enterprises.” The new Ukrainian “landowners” mostly
reside in the small villages scattered about the countryside that were associated with the
collective and state farms, although as time progresses, an increasing number of the
landowners may have left the villages for larger cities. Over the years, the Ukrainian
government has been working to “perfect” the titles of the lands that came from the division
of the large farms, but this has proven to be a slow process. The new owners are not allowed
to sell their land, but it can be leased and it can be transferred through inheritance.
In the course of land reform, 72% of agricultural land has been transferred to private
ownership, including 81% of the tilled land. As of January 1, 2012, 6.9 million people had
acquired title for parcels of agricultural land. Of these, 6.8 million have received State
Certificates for the land share title, and for these, 6.7 million State Acts for the land plot titles
were drawn up and issued in exchange for the certificates.
According to land registration data, the total cropland area covers 41.5 million hectares
(103.75 million acres) at the beginning of 2013. This is 69% of the total area of Ukraine. Of
the agricultural lands, 78% is actively-tilled cropland (32.5 million hectares/81.5 million
acres), 13% is pasture (4 million hectares/10 million acres), 5% is hayland (2 million
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hectares/5 million acres), 2% is in perennial plantings and about 1% is fallow or abandoned
land1.
According to the official data, 38.7 million hectares were in the large state farms in 1990. By
2001, that had dropped to 28.4 million hectares, dropping to 21.2 million acres by 2006, and
continuing to fall to 16.5 million hectares by 2012. In 1990, cropland made up 80% of the
large farm landholdings; by 2012, cropland made up 93.5% of cropland. More than 40% of
the decline in land in the agri-enterprises was the shedding of pasture lands and hay land,
much of which may be going unused or at least under-utilized.
Of the 16.5 million hectares being operated by the agri-enterprises, 19% is controlled by 161
units with more than 10,000 hectares (some up to 500,000 hectares); 26.5% is controlled by
796 enterprises with 4,000-10,000 hectares; 27% in 1,710 units with 2,000-4,000 hectares;
23% in 3,572 units with 500-2,000 hectares; and 5% in 5,000 units with less than 500
hectares.
In 2012, private farms operated 4.1 million hectares. There were 3 private farms of greater
than 10,000 hectares; 54 private farms with 4,000-10,000 hectares; 192 private farms with
2,000-4,000 hectares; 1,617 private farms with 500-2,000 hectares; 8,981 private farms with
50-500 hectares; 16,997 private farms with 10-50 hectares; and 8,488 private farms with 10
hectares or less.
Individual households account for 11.6 million hectares of cropland, 0.6 million hectares of
perennials; 1.2 million hectares of hay lands, and 2.2 million hectares of pastureland. Land
consolidation is happening at the lowest levels of farming in Ukraine. Between 2007 to
2012, the share of households having more than 1 hectare has grown by 6%. More than 1.2
million peasant households expanded their land use by joining together land plots received
when the collectives were divided up. In some regions of the country, these small holdings
are dominant, such as in the Zhytomyr region where households use 60.5% of the land and in
Transcarpathia where the households operate 87% of the land.
There are ongoing discussions in the Ukrainian Parliament about land ownership reforms. At
some point in time, Ukraine will need to repeal the moratorium on agricultural land purchases
and sales. When that happens, some significant shifts in land ownership and operation are
expected to occur, but those changes could bring with them civil unrest and dislocations in
the rural villages that now rely on the rents of their lands to the large agri-enterprises for
much of their annual income and local community support.
Agricultural Land Area and Major Crops
The climate of Ukraine is roughly similar to that of Kansas: slightly drier and cooler during
the summer and colder and wetter during the winter, but close enough for comparison. The
weather is suitable for both winter and spring crops. Average annual precipitation in Ukraine
is approximately 600 millimeters (24 inches), including roughly 350 millimeters during the
growing season (April through October). Amounts are typically higher in western and central
Ukraine and lower in the south and east.
The sudden loss of State agricultural subsidies had an enormous effect on every aspect of
Ukrainian agriculture. The contraction in livestock inventories that had begun in the late
1980's continued and intensified. Fertilizer use fell by 85 percent over a ten-year period, and
1
Panorama of Ukraine Agrarian Sector 2012 Pages 33-40.
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grain production by 50 percent. Farms were forced to cope with fleets of aging, inefficient
machinery because no funds were available for capital investment. At the same time,
however, the emergence from the Soviet-style command economy enabled farmers to make
increasingly market-based decisions regarding crop selection and management, which
contributed to increased efficiency in both the livestock and crop-production sectors.
Difficulty in obtaining credit, especially large, long-term loans, remains a significant problem
for many farms.
Of Ukraine's total land area of 60 million hectares, roughly 41.5 million hectares are
classified as agricultural land, which includes cultivated land (grains, technical crops,
forages, potatoes and vegetables, and fallow), gardens, orchards, vineyards, and permanent
meadows and pastures. Winter wheat, spring barley, and corn are the country's main grain
crops. Sunflowers and sugar beets the main technical, or industrial, crops. Agricultural land
use has shifted significantly since Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union in
1991. Between 1991 and 2000, sown area dropped by about 5 percent, from 32.0 million
hectares to 30.4 million, and area decreased for almost every category of crop except for
technical crops (specifically sunflowers). Forage-crop area plunged by nearly 40 percent,
concurrent with a steep slide in livestock inventories and feed demand.
Wheat is grown throughout the country, but central and south-central Ukraine are the key
production zones. About 95 percent of Ukraine wheat is winter wheat, planted in the fall and
harvested during July and August of the following year. On the average, approximately 15
percent of fall-planted crops fail to survive the winter.
Barley has been the top feed grain in Ukraine for most of the past ten years in terms of
consumption, surpassing wheat in the early 1990's. Spring barley accounts for over 90
percent of barley area, and the main production region is eastern Ukraine. Spring barley is
typically planted in April and harvested in August, and is the crop most frequently used for
spring reseeding of damaged or destroyed winter-grain fields.
Corn is the third important feed grain in Ukraine. Planted area has increased despite several
impediments: obsolete and inadequate harvesting equipment, high cost of production
(specifically post-harvest drying expenses), and pilferage. The main production region is
eastern and southern Ukraine, although precipitation amounts in some oblasts in the extreme
south are too low to support corn production. Corn is typically planted in late April or early
May. Harvest begins in late September and is usually nearing completion by early
November. Only 25 to 50 percent of total corn area is harvested for grain; the rest is cut for
silage, usually in August. (The USDA corn estimates refer to corn for grain only.) Corn is
used chiefly for poultry and swine feed, and production and consumption have increased
since 2000 concurrent with a rebound in poultry inventories. Russia and Belarus are the chief
destinations for Ukrainian corn exports, although shipments through the Black Sea are
increasing as trade expands with Turkey, North Africa and Asia.
Exports: The total value of agricultural exports in 1998 was estimated $1.898 billion. By
2012, total agricultural exports from Ukraine reached $17 billion according to the Ukrainian
Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Mykola Prysyazhnyuk. Additionally, he noted that
Ukrainian agricultural industry produces twice as much as is consumed by the domestic
market. Ukrainian agricultural export in January - October 2012 included meat, fish, dairy,
poultry, vegetables, vegetable oils, sugar, wine, nuts, apples, as well as 6.7 million tons of
wheat worth nearly USD 1.8 billion, according to ukrstat.gov.ua. Major buyers of Ukrainian
42 | P a g e
agricultural products in 2012 were the EU and CIS countries. Notably, Austria buys
Ukrainian apples, while Poland is the major consumer of Ukrainian rye. Egypt and Spain
were the largest buyers of Ukrainian wheat. About three quarters of Ukrainian barley is
exported to Saudi Arabia.
In late December 2012, the Financial Times noted Ukraine's potential in wheat, barley, corn,
and sunflower seeds export. Notably, in 2011, Ukraine joined the world's top three grain
exporters. A year prior - in 2010 - it landed fourth on the list of the leading grain exporters,
following the USA, the EU, and Canada. Moreover, Ukraine currently ranks number one in
global barley exports and is the third largest corn supplier in the world in 2011, surpassing
Brazil and being the second runner-up to the USA and Argentina. In 2012, China - the
world's largest corn consumer – imported Ukrainian corn for the first time.
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Romania
Romania is in southeast Europe and is slightly smaller than Oregon with total area of 91,699
square miles (237,500 sq km) and a land area of 88,934 square miles. The Carpathian
Mountains divide Romania's upper half from north to south and connect near the center of the
country with the Transylvanian Alps, running east and west. North and west of these ranges
lies the Transylvanian plateau, and to the south and east are the plains of Moldavia and
Walachia. In its last 190 mi (306 km), the Danube River flows through Romania only. It
enters the Black Sea in northern Dobruja, just south of the border with Ukraine. The primary
access of Romania to the Black Sea is through the port at Constanta.
Romania is a republic. The government of Romania is a parliamentary government with
a Prime Minister, Victor Ponta (2012) and an elected president, Traian Basescu (2012)
The population of Romania (2011 est.) is 21,848,504 with a negative growth rate of –0.26%;
The birth rate is 9.49/1000; infant mortality rate: 10.73/1000; life expectancy: 74.22; and
density per sq mi: 207. Bucharest is the capitol city with 2.2 million people in the metro area.
Other large cities include: Cluj-Napoca, 309,136; Timisoara, 303,708; Iasi, 263,410;
Constanta, 254,693; Craiova, 243,765, Galati, 231,204; and Brasov, 227,961. The monetary
unit of Romania is the “new leu”, which is also called the RON. The current exchange rate is
3.38 RON for one U.S. dollar.
The historic provinces of Walachia, Transylvania, Moldavia, Dobruja, and the Banat have
distinct soil and climatic conditions that make them suitable for different types of agriculture.
The breadbasket of Romania is Walachia, which provides half the annual grain harvest and
roughly half the fruit and grapes. Truck farming, especially in the Ilfov Agricultural District
surrounding Bucharest, is also important. Despite the fertility of Walachia's soil, yields
fluctuate considerably from year to year because of recurrent droughts. Transylvania, which
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receives more precipitation than Walachia, has poorer soils and more rugged terrain that
restricts large-scale mechanized farming. Livestock raising predominates in the mountains,
and potatoes and grains are the principal crops in the central basin.
Moldavia has generally less fertile soil than Walachia and receives scant rainfall. Its primary
crops are corn, wheat, fruit and grapes, and potatoes. The Banat region has a nearly ideal
balance of rich Chernozem soils and adequate precipitation. Grain, primarily wheat, is the
principal crop; fruits and vegetables are also important. Dobruja, a region of generally
inadequate rainfall, was becoming agriculturally more important during the 1980s, because
much of the marshland in the Danube Delta was being drained and brought under cultivation.
The traditional crops of Dobruja are grain, sunflowers, and legumes. Corn and wheat
occupied nearly two-thirds of all arable land in the 1980s and about 90 percent of all grain
lands. Wine and table grapes were widely grown, but the best vineyards were in Moldavia.
Romania had gained a reputation for fine wines as early as the nineteenth century, and
subsequently became one of the major producers of Europe.
Romania has an agricultural capacity of approximately 14.7 million hectares, of which only
10 million are used as arable land. The current structure of the farming sector in Romania is
the result of the Government's land distribution and restitution policies implemented after the
1989 overthrow of the Communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu. Currently, approximately
85% of agricultural land has been privatized. The main form of privatization was restitution.
Restitution and distribution of land processes carried out established more than 3.9 million
farm holdings, of which 1.6 million are less than 1 hectare, 1.1 million are less than 3
Ha, 290,000 are in the range of 10-20 Ha and 255 are more than 2,000 Ha (the latter are
cultivating 11% of the utilized agricultural area).
Agriculture makes up about 6% of GDP in 2007, down from 12.6% in 2004. As of August
2009, approximately 3 million Romanians (close to 30% of the country's workforce) are
employed in agriculture, compared to 4-5% in other Western countries. Across the country
as a whole, mechanization is comparatively poor, with one tractor available for every 54
hectares, while the EU average is one tractor for every 13 hectares. Approximately 170,000
tractors exist in Romania, of which about 80% are aging or obsolete. Unlike Western Europe,
where tractors are replaced after 3,000-4,000 hours of use, in Romania they sometimes last
up to 12,000 hours. The main problems encountered by Romanian agriculturists are a lack of
major investments in agriculture, due to difficulty in accessing available funds, fragmentation
and erosion of soil, property-related lawsuits and obsolete technology. In southeastern
Romania, particularly in the coastal plains area near the Black Sea, larger, newer tractors are
becoming more common as investment money (both Romanian and foreign investment) is
beginning to become more wide spread.
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IFBF 2013 Black Sea Region Study Tour Contacts
Mila Yashchuk
Project Manager
Real Ukraine
2/38 Paryzkoyi Komuny Str.
20300 Uman, Ukraine
Cherkassy Region
+38 (067) 470-1790
[email protected]
Tetiana Pavliuk
Real Ukraine
2/38 Paryzkoyi Komuny Str.
20300 Uman, Ukraine
Cherkassy Region
+38 (067) 470-1790
[email protected]
Randall Hager
Agricultural Attache’
Embassy of the United States
USDA/FAS
4, Igor Sikorsky Str.
Kyiv, 04112 Ukraine
+380 (44) 521-5027
[email protected]
Yuliya Dubinyuk
Agricultural Specialist
Embassy of the United States
USDA/FAS
4, Igor Sikorsky Str.
Kyiv, 04112 Ukraine
+380 (44) 521-5204
[email protected]
Alexander Tarassevych
Agricultural Specialist
Embassy of the United States
USDA/FAS
4, Igor Sikorsky Str.
Kyiv, 04112 Ukraine
+380 (44) 521-5313
[email protected]
Vitaly Sabluk
Director, Department of Agro Markets
Economic Development
Ministry of Agriculture
Kyiv, 01001 Ukraine
(044) 278-7942
[email protected]
Jeff Rechkemmer
Director Farming Operations
FarmGate Ukraine LLC
Karl Marx Street 37
30300 Vas’kivtsi, Ukraine
+38 (038) 523-2335
[email protected]
Jeff Rechkemmer
103 12th Avenue, SE
Oelwein, IA 50662
319-240-8603
[email protected]
Ivan Yatsiv
Director, AgroTechnology
+38 095 278 7372
[email protected]
Kornelis (Kees) Huizinga
Director, Kishenzi LTD
20121 Kishenzi, Ukraine
Feneral Andrew Drofa Str. 2
Man’Kivka Rayon
Cherkassy Oblast
+38 (047) 487-6257
[email protected]
Alexander Khokhlov
Deputy Director General of Quality
Assurance, Nibulon
9-B Faleyevska St.
Mykolaiv, Ukraine 54030
(0512) 58-0441
[email protected]
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Mikhaylo Semenyuk
PJSC “Ukrelevatorprom” (ADM Ukraine)
52/1 Chernomorskogo Kazachestva Str
Odessa, Ukraine 65003
Ph: +38 (048) 738-6365
[email protected]
Romania
Maria Dorobantu
Travel Manager, Explore Romania
19 bis Calistrat Hogas Street
Piatra-Neamt, Romania
Ph: +40 740 211 535
maria@exploretravel,net
www.exploreromania.org
Monica Dobrescu
Agricultural Specialist
USDA/FAS
American Embassy
4-6 Dr. Liviu Librescu Boulevard
Sector 1, Bucharest, Romania
Ph: +40 212 003 374
[email protected]
Constantin Iorgoveanu
Director General
Genitex. S.A., Masini Agricole
Com.: Gemenele
Jud. Braila, Romania
Ph: 0730 558 794
Silviu Radulescu
Director Administrativ, Minmetal
Incinta Port Constanta, Dana 45, et2
Romania, Constanta 900900
Ph: +40 241 639 035
[email protected]
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