Dry wintering: Southern farmers start and end the year with a moisture deficit

Southern regions of the Russian Federation have reported the completion of sowing for the 2026 harvest. Representatives of the agricultural sector interviewed by RBC Krasnodar assessed the current weather conditions and the state of the crops, and spoke about the problems that concern them ahead of the winter season. In the Kuban region, the area of winter crops exceeded 1.8 million hectares, which is 37 thousand hectares more than the previous year. Of these, 1.6 million hectares were sown with wheat, 178 thousand hectares with barley, and 85 thousand hectares with rapeseed. According to regional authorities, currently, there are shoots across almost the entire area, with the vast majority of plants in the tillering phase, which is considered the most favorable for wintering. A similar situation has developed in the Rostov region. At the end of November, the Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Rostov region, Anna Kasyanenko, told RBC TV South that 85% of winter crops had ...