Grain harvest for 2009 may have already exceeded forecasted numbers

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Following a record harvest in the last marketing year, Ukraine welcomed another bumper harvest in 2009, with grain harvest in 2010 poised for a further upgrade.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told a press conference that Ukraine "faced poor weather in 2009 but have already harvested 48.5 million tonnes of grain" by the end of the year.

The number forecasted by Ukraine’s Agrarian Policy Ministry was 48 million tonnes following a series of upward revisions over 2009.

Meanwhile, UkrAgroConsult is estimating the 2010 wheat harvest to come in at 18.7 million tonnes; whereas the Association Ukrainian Agribusiness Club is forecasting just 13-14 million tonnes of wheat harvest.

Primary estimation by UkrAgroConsult was due to the fact that dry conditions for autumn plantings did not cause soil temperatures to sink to critical values, and winter crops were not damaged by the frost on most areas.