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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 18:31

Lithuania farmers say grain harvest as expected, but may face problems selling produce

BC, Vilnius, 02.09.2020.Print version
Lithuanian farmers say this year's grain harvest meets their expectations following several seasons of lower-than-projected yields, but the coronavirus pandemic has slowed down produce purchases, reported LETA/BNS.

Preliminary figures from the Lithuanian Association of Grain Growers show that the overall grain harvest increased by 18 % this year compared with last year to around 6.5 mln tons.   


Ignas Jankauskas, the association's head of administration, said grain yields had been below expectations for the past three years – due to drought in 2019 and 2019, and to heavy rainfall in 2017.


"At long last we can say that the harvest has returned to a normal level that is in line with farmers' expectations," he told LETA/BNS. 


However, farmers are concerned about buyers' liquidity problems and their cautiousness in light of an uncertain economic outlook.


"The deadlines for paying for grain are approaching and payments are underway, but we see that grain purchases have slowed down," Jankauskas said. 


"Grain traders are doing their best to fulfill their existing contracts, but are trying to postpone the signing of new ones as much as possible and spread payments over a longer period of time," he added.


This may cause farmers to delay their payments for the raw materials used, according to the official.


The government's planned injection of 40 mln euros in the agricultural sector in the form of soft loans to coronavirus-hit farms is too low, he said. 


According to figures from the Lithuanian Institute of Agrarian Economics, the country's grain harvest totaled 5.503 mln tons in 2019, up from 4.739 mln tons in 2018 when Lithuania suffered a drought in the summer.  






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