A group of leading Australian and New Zealand grain growers has just returned from a two-week grains tour through the European Union and Black Sea region.
The tour gave the group of 30 an opportunity to visit European farms, which provided insights into the supply chain dynamics influencing global trade.
Pit stops included grain processing operations, major European ports, agri-chemical suppliers, machinery manufacturers and grain marketers in the Netherlands, Germany and Ukraine.
Hosted by Rabobank, the tour – which started in Amsterdam and wrapped up 13 days later in Kiev – was the second international grains tour led by the bank, following last year’s trip through America’s mid-west grain belt.
For Moree, NSW, grain growers George and Tina Clyne, the tour was an opportunity to see for themselves what Australia’s European competitors were doing and what kind of threat they posed.
Mr Clyne said he came back home thinking “there is a lot to keep an eye on, particularly in Ukraine and Russia”.
“They are an enormous threat in terms of the sheer quantity of wheat they produce in Ukraine, and the potential in Russia,” Mr Clyne said.
Simon and Debra Metcalf, Wongan Hills, WA, also travelled on the tour.
“I am very interested in Ukraine and wanted to see if they are a competitor to us,” Mr Metcalf said.
“I walked away thinking they are a competitor at this stage, but a possible threat in the future.”
Travelling to Kiev, Odessa and Mykolaiv in Ukraine, the tour included visits to the largest crop producer in Ukraine with 560,000 hectares of crop sown annually, and also their sunflower crushing plant and port facilities.
Ukraine produces on average 80 million tonnes of grains and oilseeds each year, of which 45 million tonnes is exported.
By 2030, Rabobank forecasts export volumes will increase to between 55 and 60 million tonnes, as this trend growth in production is expected to continue.
With most of this projected increase in production expected to be achieved via wheat yield advancements, Mr Metcalf said the Ukrainian farming operations they had visited were harvesting around five tonnes of wheat to the hectare, double the Australian average.
“That said, their annual rainfall is much higher at around 400 to 600 millimeters,” he said.