Reduction of grain exports and lack of places for its storage, lack of animal feed and shutdown of processing enterprises are among the main problems of domestic farmers. Mykhailo Sokolov, the UAC Deputy Chairman, told Comments.ua publishing about such challenges during the war in the agricultural sector.

According to him, farmers hoped to sell products and get funds to finance sowing. On the other hand, grain from last year's harvest and this year's will have to be stored somewhere if the ports are not unblocked by the end of the year. If earlier Ukraine exported 4 million tons of grain per month, now, according to various estimates, when supplies are established, Ukraine will be able to export only 600 thousand tons per month, at best 1 million tons, but then have to reduce exports of other products, explains the expert.

"Accordingly, at the beginning of autumn without exports, but only with domestic consumption, we will have a stock of 30-32 million tons. This is too much. We need only 25 million tons per year. We sow and will sow. Even if the 2022 harvest is 60 million tons, which means a very bad harvest for the country, because we have harvested 100 million tons in recent years, it will still be too much. We will face a problem that there is no place to store it. Therefore, now the volume of exports of 600 thousand tons and even 1 million tons per month is not enough. And what to do with the rest? This is the main problem, because due to restrictions on exports and blocking ports, farmers do not have the funds. They expected to sell grain and finance sowing. We are working with the Ministry, and procurement in the state reserve will improve the situation, because farmers will receive livelihoods," added Mykhailo Sokolov.

The appeal of President Zelensky was very important for farmers of all regions, who said that they should also sow in the temporarily occupied territories, the expert said.

"This signal was very important and people will do their job. I do not share the opinion that everything is gone and nothing will happen in the occupied territories - there will be more, we expect that we will harvest, as it should be, and we will also sell it for export" the UAC Deputy Chairman said.

Livestock farmers are currently struggling with feed and processing. It is difficult to predict losses in this area, but many farmers are trying to save livestock. Some milk processing companies continue to operate and supply their products to cities.

"Indeed, there are problems. Many processing plants have stopped working due to hostilities. If you produce milk, you have to supply it constantly, you can't stop milking cows. The war harmed a lot livestock. Some farms have a problem with feed. There will be reductions in this area, but it is difficult to say how significant it will be. We will restore it after the war. But the threat that livestock is suffering losses is real," said the expert.