Harvesting of sunflowers and corn has begun in Békés County

(Photo: Pixabay)

Sunflowers were sown on almost 85,000 hectares, after harvesting 85 percent of the area, the average yield was 2.8 tons per hectare. There are problems with the quality, the oil content is not the best – Béla Barabás, secretary of the Békés County Agricultural Association, announced at the meeting. Only 10 percent of the corn has been harvested from the almost 68,000 hectares, so far 38,700 tons have been harvested. The harvest results fall short of expectations, mainly due to the high heat at the end of August. According to experts, the average yield of 5.7 tons will increase as the harvest progresses.

Sowing of autumn crops has also begun

Cabbage rape is planned to be sown on 10,500 hectares (in 2021 it was grown on 16,000 hectares), the farmers have already completed 95 percent of the work. It was said at the meeting that the areas sown with corn will decrease by 15-20 percent. According to experts, the current soil preparation regulatory system “contradicts all professional experience”.

Prices have fallen, storage is problematic

The purchase price of sunflower is currently 109-115 thousand per ton; that of corn ranges between HUF 52-56 thousand. According to what was said at the meeting, it is expected that there will be problems with storage. Róbert Brlázs, the president of the Orosháza és Térsége Gazdakör, spoke about the problems affecting the farmers, among other things, that the Ukrainian grain imported last year occupied a good part of the local storage capacity, and in addition, the price of wheat has halved compared to last year’s price level, to the level of 2005-2006 fell back. Small farmers – due to lack of storage capacity – are forced to sell their produce at or below cost price. They have no chance to pay the losses of last year’s catastrophic year, he added. In his opinion, the next five years will present a great challenge to farmers. It was said at the meeting that the decree on compensation for damages caused by Ukrainian imports has been published, and the application for support can be submitted between October 1 and October 15.

MTI