Russia's agricultural sector is entering the season with its worst planting figures in eight years
In 2026, the Russian agricultural sector is entering the season with the worst planting campaign results in the last eight years: planting rates are falling short of targets, production costs are rising, and farm profitability continues to decline.
The crisis has engulfed key agricultural regions of the aggressor country, jeopardizing the local government’s ambitious harvest plans.
The extent of the delay in fieldwork is critical for the local sector.
“As of the end of May, Russia had sown only 42.3 million hectares out of the planned 83 million, according to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture. This is the slowest sowing pace since 2018. Spring wheat covers 7–7.1 million hectares instead of the 10.5 million hectares planned, which is 12% less than a year earlier. The reason is the slow pace of fieldwork in the Volga region, Siberia, and parts of the southern regions,” the report states.
Against this backdrop, the Russian government continues to project a harvest of 146–150 million tons of grain this year, compared to 141 million tons in 2025. These figures appear overly optimistic even under normal seasonal conditions, but the season has not been normal so far.
Diesel fuel has become a separate acute problem for Russian farmers, as its price has skyrocketed in recent months. Over the past two months, its price in a number of regions has soared by 35% and reached 87–90 rubles per liter, or about $1.20.
The situation is most acute in the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Samara regions. Deliveries are delayed by an average of four days due to planned seasonal demand and unscheduled maintenance at oil refineries.
Farmers can neither stop to wait nor pay a price that eats into their already fragile margins.
The financial situation of Russian agricultural enterprises shows a sharp decline in profitability and a rise in debt. The report notes that margins in Russia are indeed fragile.
In the first quarter of 2026, the share of profitable agricultural enterprises fell to 68.6% from 77.9% a year earlier. The share of unprofitable enterprises rose to 31.4%.
Profits in crop and livestock farming fell by 22.5%, while losses increased 1.6-fold. In the Rostov region, the average profitability of agricultural producers turned negative.
This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, which analyzed the internal economic indicators of the enemy state.
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