Belarus grain harvest reaches 1.22 million tonnes as winter barley sets record
Belarus has harvested 1.22 million tonnes of grain at an average yield of 4.16 tonnes per hectare. Winter barley output has exceeded 1 million tonnes for the first time, while the country is also targeting a larger rapeseed crop.
Grain output reaches 1.22 million tonnes
Belarusian farms have harvested 1.22 million tonnes of grain, according to Pravda.ru. The average yield reached 4.16 tonnes per hectare, up by 0.18 tonnes per hectare from the level recorded at the same point last year. The improvement raises the country's production outlook as harvesting continues across its main growing regions.
Minsk Region reported the largest volume at 334,000 tonnes. Brest Region followed with 280,000 tonnes, while Grodno Region harvested 255,000 tonnes. The totals stood at 169,000 tonnes in Gomel Region, 113,000 tonnes in Mogilev Region and 69,000 tonnes in Vitebsk Region.
The regional figures show that Minsk, Brest and Grodno account for most of the grain collected so far. Their combined progress will remain central to the final national result, although unfinished harvesting and possible rainfall leave the total subject to change.
Winter barley passes historic threshold
Farmers have threshed more than 1 million tonnes of winter barley for the first time in Belarusian history. Harvesting of the crop is 94% complete, meaning final production is expected to rise further. The current average yield is 4.28 tonnes per hectare, compared with 3.86 tonnes per hectare a year earlier.
Some farms achieved substantially higher results. Novaya Zhizn, an agricultural company in the Nesvizh district, recorded 10.44 tonnes per hectare. Farm director Viktor Khudnitsky said the operation produced approximately the same yield last year, indicating that the crop has remained stable despite changing weather conditions.
The combination of a higher national yield and an almost completed harvest makes winter barley the clearest positive element in the current grain campaign. For processors and livestock producers, a larger domestic crop may improve local availability. The source did not provide domestic prices, export forecasts or grain-quality data, so the effect on commercial flows cannot yet be quantified.
Rapeseed area expands
Winter rapeseed has been harvested from 138,000 hectares, equivalent to 31% of the planned area. Output has reached 330,000 tonnes, with an average yield of 2.1 tonnes per hectare. Brest Region leads on productivity at 3 tonnes per hectare.
Tatiana Vorobyova, deputy head of the crop production department at the Brest regional agriculture and food committee, said the region could harvest more than 200,000 tonnes. She linked that prospect to higher yields and an expansion of planted area by almost 10,000 hectares.
Across Belarus, the rapeseed area increased to 441,000 hectares from 377,000 hectares last year. Producers plan to collect 1.2 million tonnes, compared with approximately 1 million tonnes of winter and spring rapeseed combined in the previous season. The target would provide more raw material for crushers and other oilseed users if yields hold through the remaining harvest.
Forecast rainfall is now an operational risk. Agricultural enterprises have been advised to use every period of favorable weather and keep machinery ready. With most winter barley already collected but more than two-thirds of the planned winter rapeseed area still unharvested, field access and equipment availability could have a greater influence on the oilseed result than on the barley total.
