Farmer focus: ukraine visit reveals little wheat disease pressure - farmers weekly

Many of us will have heard about the enormous expanse of wonderful farmland in the former Eastern bloc. A land of opportunity and potential. Well, at last I have seen it for myself. Four of

us, all friends from college days, went to visit another friend who has been farming in Ukraine in various guises for the past 23 years. He and his colleagues are tenant farmers and work

land that is now again owned by those who used to own it prior to the Soviet era. He farms a mind-blowing 231,000ha and has more than 80,000 landlords growing wheat, maize, soya and

sunflowers. See also: Read more from our Arable Farmer Focus writers It was a fascinating insight. To actually see that beautiful, naturally fertile land at first hand was memorable. We were

close to the Russian border and to see the watchtowers in the distance is a bit disconcerting. However, the farmers’ only concern seem to be the particularly wet spring that was delaying

drilling. However, the wheat looked particularly well, having had only half the nitrogen we use. There also seemed to be little sign of disease pressure. I wouldn’t be surprised if the

ageing Soviet grain stores – complete with a fading but still clearly visible hammer and sickle painted on the massive concrete silos – will be full to bursting this year. There are new

facilities like this being built or upgraded all over the place. The waterway that runs through Kiev on its way to the Black Sea is being deepened so that larger grain vessels can pass

through. We can assume it will be only a matter of years before the long-expected potential of Ukraine is finally fulfilled. The four of us enjoyed our few days in Ukraine, although some of

the memories are very hazy. Our hosts provided us with a sumptuous lunch, but of course tradition dictates that several toasts to farming, women and so on meant the only sight-seeing done on

the long, arduous seven-hour journey back to Kiev was the back of our eyelids. ------------------------- _Neil Thomson farms 607ha in partnership with his father and brother from Caverton

Mill, Kelso, on the Scottish Borders, growing combinable crops and brassicas. Some of the mainly medium loam is let for potatoes, and the farm also has cattle and sheep._