We have just reached the middle of February, and spring sowing is already widely talked about, although we are two months away from the most important job of the year.
Unlike previous years, when sowing was mentioned just before it should start, this winter calculations are already being made about how much it will cost, primarily sowing corn, which is most common in arable land and whether there will be enough seeds, ie whether they are already provided sufficient quantities on the market.
Although there is no reason to worry because sowing will be about the same as last year – both in terms of costs and providing a sufficient amount of seeds, market conditions are now different compared to last year, and that encouraged the story of sowing earlier than usual. During the fall and winter, grain prices were far higher than last year, and our country signed an agreement with China, the world’s most populous country, on corn exports. This week, at the Novi Sad Product Exchange, a kilogram of corn cost 20 cents, soybeans 60 cents, and wheat 22 cents, without VAT. However, this will not lead to an increase in the areas on which field crops will be sown compared to last year and slaughtered – in fact, little will change because the areas will be sown to approximately the same extent, with small, almost negligible deviations.
– We do not have arable land where sowing would spread because especially in Vojvodina, all arable land has already been used, and if there are free plots, they are fields of poorer quality – says Vukosav Sakovic from the Association “Zita Srbije”. The association believes that corn will be sown as last year, on about 970,000 hectares, and that the current good price of corn will not contribute to farmers turning too much to that agricultural crop, neglecting others.
According to Sakovic, the justification for such expectations lies in the fact that in the fall, as well as last fall, wheat was sown on approximately 600,000 hectares, although the price of grain was significantly higher than during the harvest and later during the winter and spring.
– If the sowing of corn increased by only 100,000 hectares, it would reduce the area under soybeans and sunflowers by a third – warns Sakovic and states that he estimates that only sunflowers could be sown less, so oilseeds should take into account their needs before sowing, enter into contracts with farmers and agree in advance on the purchase price of the new genus.
Farmers also say that they will not change anything big in the sowing structure, but will sow corn, soybeans and sunflowers, as before.
– Most of us sold the crop for 15 and 16 cents in the fall, as soon as the corn harvest was over, in order to pay off the seeds and fertilizer – says the farmer from Subotica, Miroslav Kis. – The good price of corn was felt by traders, who have nothing to do with agriculture except that they buy field crops, fill their silos and wait for the price and make money on our troubles and get rich.
According to him, corn will not be sown more or less than last year.
– If corn is expensive now, it does not mean that it will be expensive next year. I think that the question should not be asked how many farmers will sow corn, but what kind of agro-techniques they will apply, because record yields are achieved by applying agro-technical measures. What is it worth if a farmer increases the area under corn, and omits complete agricultural techniques – because then, with, say, six hectares, he will get corn as if he grew it on twice the smaller area – Kis points out, Dnevnik reports.
