KIEV, UKRAINE – Ukrainian farmers have harvested over 66 million tonnes of grain in 2018, which exceeds the record figure of 2016, according to the press service of the Ukraine Agrarian Policy Ministry.

“As of November 19, 66.4 million tonnes of grain crops were threshed from an area of 14.3 million hectares, or 96% of the forecast," the report said.

In addition, for the first time, record figures will be recorded for the gross yield and yield of soybeans and sunflower seeds. As of Nov. 19, 13.8 million sunflower seeds were harvested from an area of 6.0 million hectares (99.8%) Also, 4.3 million tonnes of soybeans were gathered from an area of 1.7 million hectares (99%).

The report said the record-high grain crop in 2018 is due to the high yield of corn, which is also expected to reach a historical maximum of about 34.8 million tonnes.

As of Nov. 19, Ukrainian farmers have gathered 31.3 million tonnes of corn from an area of 4.1 million hectares (90%).