Agronomy

Weather
The climate in western Ukraine is well suited to intensive arable agriculture with reliable rainfall and a warm growing season. Winters are generally long and cold, followed by late springs and wet, warm summers. In the Group's predominant western regions, the average altitude of land delivers high precipitation in summer and winter, and average summer temperatures favour yield potential - if weeds are managed and inputs are appropriately applied. Winter snow cover is usually adequate to protect autumn drilled crops from winter kill due to long periods of harsh sub zero temperatures. It is important however to ensure adherence to planting windows, good seed bed preparation and appropriate autumn input management which, if managed properly, will provide excellent yields. The trade-off for having sufficient rainfall is that it may be excessive during late summer when harvest has started. This puts pressure on harvest continuity which needs to be backed up by sufficient grain drying and handling facilities.

Soil
Soils are the world renowned chernozems, fertile, deep, dark, medium to heavy loams favouring cropping of all types. However, land which has remained derelict for more than ten years lacks structure and become compacted requiring more power to work, resulting in higher operating costs. In the first crop cycles after this dereliction, these soils are slower and more expensive to work, often requiring additional field passes to make level after years of fragmented farming. In addition it is often advisable to disc in stubble and trash to improve soil structure after the first year of cropping than to remove straw and minimum till for a following crop.  This is an additional cost compared to a normal cropping rotation but is an investment that will benefit future yields when the soil structure is improved.

The dereliction has also favoured grass weeds in particular the rhizomatouse couch grass, which requires regular herbicide applications. Normally it can be eradicated within a couple years and derelict land is restored to productive farm land.

Crop Rotation
As with all successful agricultural operations, a good crop rotation is critical to managing disease, improving soil condition and fertility. and ensuring sustainable crop health.

Since the inception of Landkom there has been a focus on producing rape seed for commercial purposes, which is an ideal crop for improving soil structure and cleaning the land of weeds when taking land out of a derelict state. However both from an efficient logistical perspective and in order to maintain crop health, rape seed is broadly rotated with wheat and barley and planted no more than every four years.  This means that while the land bank is being developed a larger than usual proportion of rape seed will be planted than when the business is at a steady state, when the percentage of rape seed planted will fall to closer to 25%.