From a difficult sowing period to a difficult harvesting - AgroTerra rounds off the season

The AgroTerra Group completes the 2019-2020 production season. The season proved to be difficult, and not just because of the situation with COVID-19. Nevertheless, AgroTerra exceeded its targets: the company exceeded its overall targets by 14% for all crops. For example, the average protein content of soybean this year has not dropped below 35%. And the average sugar content of sugar beets is around 20%.

This season's problems were laid down as lately as last winter, says Valery Redkin, Director of the AgroTerra Crop Group: ‘Due to the lack of precipitation, there was not enough productive moisture in the soil by the beginning of sowing season. Low temperatures hindered the start of sowing operations. Long-lasting cold and heavy rainfall in the second half of May had a negative impact on crop seedlings and growth. These factors were more or less present in all regions where we operate.

Despite the challenges, we did a good job and this is a great credit to the entire team. The diversification of our production assets in the regions where we operate has played its role. It is also very important that we improve technology year after year.

We are approaching the end of the harvesting season with a lack of moisture in the fields, which prevents winter wheat sprouting. Our agronomists estimate that large-scale resowing may be required, and the most affected fields will be given to spring wheat or soybeans. They are already being prepared for this manoeuvre: in particular, we are conducting chisel plowing, which would not be necessary for resowing spring wheat only. The company has now formed a reserve of spring wheat and soybean seeds for sowing.

Other farmers in the Central Black Earth Region have encountered a similar situation; therefore, there is an increased demand for seeds.

‘All the varieties of seeds that we sell have been grown in our fields for over 10 years. During this time, AgroTerra has built a complete seed production cycle with an end-to-end control system that ensures maximum transparency and traceability of processes. All varieties are tested on experimental fields. As a result, not just the best, but the most suitable for each region seeds are selected,’ said Anton Yesipov, head of sales at AgroTerra.

Since 2020, AgroTerra has set up an infrastructure for seed conditioning, which allows for their more careful treatment. The throughput capacity of this system is 10 tons of seeds per hour. This is half the capacity standard, but the company has chosen a low speed to ensure maximum quality and minimum injury of seeds. For example, in terms of seed purity, AgroTerra's performance is higher than GOST requirements.