Kees Huizinga, a tillage, beef, dairy, pig and horticulture farmer in Ukraine, says he and his fellow farmers won’t quit farming as there are “too many people dependent on us”.
Huizinga, who is from the Netherlands but farms 200km south of Kyiv, first spoke to the Irish Farmers Journal in March of this year, a week into Russia’s invasion.
Back then, he shared Ukrainian farmers’ experiences where it was feared Russia was targeting tractors with bombs and pigs were being slaughtered to send meat to the frontline.
Some eight months on, he says that despite Russia’s onslaught and while they continue to supply food for their own army, farmers have “somehow managed”.
“Farmers have many issues to deal with but we’ve had to be creative,” he said.
Grain deal
Huizinga lauded the United Nations-brokered grain deal, which has enabled sea exports as a “big help”.
He said that while Russia’s move to withdraw from the deal created “panic” among farmers, the subsequent u-turn means exports are again stable.
The UN-brokered grain deal to allow sea exports from Ukrainian ports has enabled farmers to get their produce to market . \ Turkish ministry of defence.
“The grain deal was a big help to us. We got to export. We were lucky to be able to sell [all our grain],” he said.
The farmer explained how most tillage farmers in Ukraine have had “very good crop yields this year due to the weather”.
While farmers in conflict zones have continued to face difficulty getting their grain to market, Huizinga said the sea route through Odessa has allowed most farmers to move grain off farm quickly, for the most part clearing backlogs.
International efforts to provide greater storage for Ukrainian grain have also paid off, it seems, with Huizinga saying he hasn’t “heard lately that there’s storage problems”. However, he described how the logistical difficulties and costs mean that most tillage farmers are “making a loss” and are “at zero” when it comes to profits.
Diversification
For Huizinga, farm diversification has kept him afloat with vegetable prices “doing well”, at 60c/kg to 70c/kg for onions and carrots.
“Because we have milk, vegetables, pigs, we can stay profitable,” he said.
Conflict in some parts of Ukraine has reduced food supply and therefore, increased prices for farmers elsewhere in the country. \ Alexander Ermochenko
He explained that because many farms have been “taken out” in conflict zones, overall supply of farm produce in these sectors is down, leading to higher prices for farmers in the rest of the country. However, the same has not occurred for beef prices and the Dutch man is currently constructing a new cattle shed to accommodate cattle which he cannot sell. “For beef, you can hardly sell slaughter cows. Prices are very low. We’ve been forced to build additional stables because no one is buying heifers.”
Huizinga thanked Ireland’s farmers for their continued support to their counterparts in Ukraine, who he said will keep “going on”.
Read more
Farming in Ukraine: ‘We were getting ready to plant, now we fight a war’
Volunteers helping to butcher pigs for Ukrainian army
Farming in war: cattle sheds bombed and combines stolen
Irish farmer in Ukraine ‘doubling down’ to produce more food
Kees Huizinga, a tillage, beef, dairy, pig and horticulture farmer in Ukraine, says he and his fellow farmers won’t quit farming as there are “too many people dependent on us”.
Huizinga, who is from the Netherlands but farms 200km south of Kyiv, first spoke to the Irish Farmers Journal in March of this year, a week into Russia’s invasion.
Back then, he shared Ukrainian farmers’ experiences where it was feared Russia was targeting tractors with bombs and pigs were being slaughtered to send meat to the frontline.
Some eight months on, he says that despite Russia’s onslaught and while they continue to supply food for their own army, farmers have “somehow managed”.
“Farmers have many issues to deal with but we’ve had to be creative,” he said.
Grain deal
Huizinga lauded the United Nations-brokered grain deal, which has enabled sea exports as a “big help”.
He said that while Russia’s move to withdraw from the deal created “panic” among farmers, the subsequent u-turn means exports are again stable.
The UN-brokered grain deal to allow sea exports from Ukrainian ports has enabled farmers to get their produce to market . \ Turkish ministry of defence.
“The grain deal was a big help to us. We got to export. We were lucky to be able to sell [all our grain],” he said.
The farmer explained how most tillage farmers in Ukraine have had “very good crop yields this year due to the weather”.
While farmers in conflict zones have continued to face difficulty getting their grain to market, Huizinga said the sea route through Odessa has allowed most farmers to move grain off farm quickly, for the most part clearing backlogs.
International efforts to provide greater storage for Ukrainian grain have also paid off, it seems, with Huizinga saying he hasn’t “heard lately that there’s storage problems”. However, he described how the logistical difficulties and costs mean that most tillage farmers are “making a loss” and are “at zero” when it comes to profits.
Diversification
For Huizinga, farm diversification has kept him afloat with vegetable prices “doing well”, at 60c/kg to 70c/kg for onions and carrots.
“Because we have milk, vegetables, pigs, we can stay profitable,” he said.
Conflict in some parts of Ukraine has reduced food supply and therefore, increased prices for farmers elsewhere in the country. \ Alexander Ermochenko
He explained that because many farms have been “taken out” in conflict zones, overall supply of farm produce in these sectors is down, leading to higher prices for farmers in the rest of the country. However, the same has not occurred for beef prices and the Dutch man is currently constructing a new cattle shed to accommodate cattle which he cannot sell. “For beef, you can hardly sell slaughter cows. Prices are very low. We’ve been forced to build additional stables because no one is buying heifers.”
Huizinga thanked Ireland’s farmers for their continued support to their counterparts in Ukraine, who he said will keep “going on”.
Read more
Farming in Ukraine: ‘We were getting ready to plant, now we fight a war’
Volunteers helping to butcher pigs for Ukrainian army
Farming in war: cattle sheds bombed and combines stolen
Irish farmer in Ukraine ‘doubling down’ to produce more food
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