Belarus Harvests More Than 8 Million Tonnes of Grain and Rapeseed

Harvest advances ahead of last year

Belarusian farms have harvested more than 8 million tonnes of grain including rapeseed, according to MIR 24. The total is almost 1.5 million tonnes higher than at the same point last year, indicating that fieldwork is advancing faster than in the previous season. Minsk Region remains the country’s largest contributor by harvested volume, while farmers are reporting favorable expectations for the remainder of the campaign.

The current pace has strengthened prospects that Belarus could approach or exceed the record established last year. President Alexander Lukashenko has set that result, reported at 11 million tonnes, as the benchmark for the current harvest and has called for solid growth beyond it. The available figure of more than 8 million tonnes, however, combines grain and rapeseed, so it does not by itself establish how close the grain crop is to the 11-million-tonne target.

Rapeseed offers a stronger return

Rapeseed is gaining importance in the country’s planting plans because of its higher value. MIR 24 reported that a tonne of oilseed intended for food use costs more than 1,000 Belarusian rubles, or almost 28,000 Russian rubles—twice the price of a tonne of bread grain. That premium makes each additional unit of yield financially significant for farms and helps explain why more land is being allocated to the crop.

The higher return comes with greater production risk. Rapeseed does not mature uniformly, and its pods can crack easily, causing seed losses if harvesting is delayed. Producers must therefore time fieldwork carefully, waiting until seeds have dried sufficiently while moving quickly enough to limit losses. Harvesting capacity, machinery availability and coordination between farms become especially important when a large area reaches the optimal stage within a narrow period.

Processing becomes the policy priority

Lukashenko has advocated expanding rapeseed acreage, but the policy objective extends beyond increasing the volume of raw seed. Domestic processing can turn rapeseed into edible oil and produce protein-rich meal for livestock. This gives the crop two commercial outlets and links its expansion to both the vegetable-oil industry and Belarus’s sizable dairy and meat sectors.

Greater processing would allow producers to capture more value domestically rather than relying only on sales of unprocessed oilseed. Meal can support livestock feeding, while oil provides a higher-value food product. The economics will depend on seed quality, processing capacity and the ability to collect the crop without excessive field losses. The price premium reported for food-grade seed also makes quality control a central issue.

Potential implications for export supply

Belarus already sells food products to more than 100 countries and ranks among the ten largest milk exporters and the top 15 meat exporters, MIR 24 reported. A larger rapeseed crop could reinforce that export-oriented agricultural base, directly through oilseed products or indirectly by supplying meal to livestock producers. The source did not provide rapeseed export volumes, destinations or a forecast for the final harvest, leaving the eventual effect on foreign supply dependent on the completed crop and domestic processing.

For producers and processors, the immediate test is operational: preserve yields during a faster harvest and convert a greater share of valuable seed into oil and feed. If favorable expectations are realized, Belarus could increase both the scale and value of agricultural output. Whether it surpasses last year’s record will become clear only after the remaining fields are harvested and grain and rapeseed totals are reported separately.