The majority of spring grain land in Crimea will likely not be sown because of a lack of available fuel due to the political unrest in the region according to the Ukrainian agriculture minister. In 2013 grain output from Ukraine’s Crimea region totaled 765,000 tons or 1.2% of Ukraine’s total output, however the takeover of the region by Russian military forces has made access to fuel in the region nearly impossible. Sowing has already begun in the country. Ukraine plans to sow a total of 8.6 million hectares of spring grain in 2014 including 2.9 million hectares of spring wheat and spring barley. Farmers have already sown 106,000 hectares of early grains, or 4% of the total area.
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