After the War: Europe and Ukrainian Agriculture

Ukraine will join the European Union. This is now a certainty. It will take time. Ukraine will probably not join until the war is over, and there are many requirements for membership that Ukraine has to meet. But it is by now a certainty that Ukraine is a member of our European family, and many in Europe are celebrating this. But we should also take a moment to think about the challenges ahead of us. The main challenge will be agriculture. Ukraine is home to the largest stretch of fertile soil in Europe. Ukrainian farmers are able to outproduce and outcompete every other European farmer. And we, must prepare for this and discuss it.

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[Amalgam]

Warm greetings from Ukraine and thank you for being a reliable source of thoughtful, unbiased discussions about the topics most important to us! There is unimaginable levels of generational trauma in Ukrainians from centuries of imperialistic rule. Just last century 4+ millions were starved to death in 3 man-made famines (the 1932-1933 one named Holodomor for it's devastating ruin) organised by the Soviets. And now, to see our beautiful countryside plundered by russia again while facing a looming trading blockade from the West is too painful. I hope sense prevails and mutually beneficial agreements can be found, that respect us as equal participants.

[whaerf]

I love kraut videos cause I’ll click on it like “time for some eu geopolitics” and I’ll learn why Haitians hate bill Clinton

[lift_play_boogie]

Still feels so strange to hear you talk about a 'post war europe' and the implication that is not the Europe we have now.

[awsomeness]

Canadian here, A fun fact about the Canadian prairies is that when the Prairies were transferred from the jurisdiction of London to Ottawa, our Prime Minister at the time, Sir Wilfred Laurier promoted the immigration of many Ukrainian farmers to the Prairies where they would help bring their expertise in farming and experience to help develop the Prairies. Many of the poor peasants got land grants to homesteads across the west of Canada (which was a step up from their lives in the Russian/Austrian empires and later the Soviet Union) and it helped the population on the Praries boom.

[antonlempiy]

Hi, I'm Ukrainian.
I have a few words. My uncle is a professional agronomist and I also know some farmers in personal.
The story about very cheap Ukrainian food after EU membership is a little bit overestimated, mostly because of the current abnormal conditions in Ukrainian economy.
Today Russian naval blockade of our ports is still a big deal. Ukraine doesn't have enough barns and elevators to store so much harvest for such a long time. That's why the last 2 years of war, UA farmers had to sell their products almost at cost price. Otherwise, their harvest will decay and you'll not have enough money for the next year sowing. Of course, it caused a huge impact on the Western market, as the only place where you can sell your products, but it mostly a consequence of war, and not just a "cheating advantage" of fertile soil.
Also, it's important to mention that Ukrainian yield per hectare is much lower then, for instance, in the USA. Despite a very nice natural conditions, UA farming technologies are still not modern enough to give similar results. Relatively high Ukrainian agricultural numbers are mostly the consequence of the fact that Ukraine, after being imperial "bread-basket" for hundreds of years, today is the most plowed country on the Earth which caused a very bad impact on our ecology.
Another big factor is a labor cost, which is currently lower than it will be after membership. If labor market of Ukraine will be opened to EU and vice versa, our employers will be forced to compete in salaries that will increase food cost.

[a.bastianwiik]

I think we need to account for Ukraine currently diversifying its workforce away from agriculture at extreme speed: refugees get trained to fill roles in as in healthcare and hospitality, soldiers are training in logistics, as mechanics and in construction, civilians in Ukraine are replacing those who left, taking jobs in a wide range of manufactories etc etc. I learned A LOT of random skills during my military service, some of which I did something with and others I laugh at a decade later. Ukrainians are not returning to the pre-feb 22 nation after the war is won.

[ingloriuspumpkinpie]

You obsolutely need fertilizers even when farming on chernozem. You are taking nutrients from soil, and while some are returned from mineralization and through rainfall, modern agriculture just cannot be sustained without them.

[TheLazyBot]

Don’t know if you noticed, but the black soil portion says “Midwest” then puts the pin in Arizona, which is just in the West, and is not known for being particularly cold as far as I’m aware.

[Mello_me]

hearing about how the war in Ukraine caused food shortages in Sri Lanka and Afghanistan got me into geopolitics so I'm really happy kraut is taking about this

[Huvpalto]

As a Ukranian, thank you for both remembering us and spreading truth about these complex and often overlooked topic.

[AyubuKK]

I think this also projects into why and how eastern Europe needs to be taken more seriously. For a long while, in my point of view as an American, eastern Europe has been viewed as a lesser backwater of the continent.

[EpicgamerwinXD]

So basically government subsidies are partially responsible for causing the downfall of Hati? Well that was a great use of tax dollars wasn't it?

[animegandalf]

I think its honestly interesting seeing how different countries in Europe’s deal with agriculture policies. As an Norwegian one of the most important reasons we did not join the EU was result of agriculture. Over here it was fear being flooded with cheaper agricultural goods from the Dutch, I think if Ukraine does join the EU after war then it likely make Norway joining even less likely

[kucammischablue]

I fear that Dutch agricultural corporations are buying up too much Romanian land and are turning our farmers into cheap labour force that is forced out of Romania. I fear the west is using the east only for its advantage, as it did with its ports until now, in the detriment of again eastern ports.Rotterdam kept getting bigger while ports like the ones on the Black Sea which have now proven to have been of use to Ukraine are still in shambles. Strange times ahead.

[NooYPP]

These videos are great for Americans to get better insights into European perspectives. We don't consider these things much over here and the subsidies thing comes as no surprise to me.

[maximmartynow]

Great video, as always. But an interesting fact that should also be mentioned, is that, despite the crazy rich soil and great climate in Ukraine, average yields per area are still significantly lower than in North America and Western/Central Europe. The reason is that most Ukranian farmers lack the capital to invest into advanced tools, hybrid and GMO seeds, irrigation, etc., meaning that they are less efficcient. And yet Ukraine is a competitive agricultural powerhouse. One can only imagine, how titanic it could be, if they reach the same level as western farmers.
Perhaps a way to solve this dilemma, would be to make lucrative deals with Asian and Middle Eastern countries, most of which are net importers of grain. Ukraine could successfully compete with the likes of the US and Brazil. Plus, China would definetly appreciate diversifying it's grain supply, as a US embargo could push them to the brink of famine...

[poisonousbadge]

I always get so happy when kraut uploads! He always has a great history lesson that reflects the modern situation.

[blaoufh]

Farmer protectionism is a global reality. Maybe it's not so bad; it's important for food prices to be stable. A reliable food supply is the basis of civilization.

[Arbiter]

Just a question on this, have you ever watched clarksons farm? It does a pretty good job of showing how the British farming industry is flat out unprofitable, and the government's half measures and loss of subsidies from Europe have pushed British farmers to either sell up or sell at a massive loss. In the UK, it opened up the discussion of farming and I would reccomend it as a thing to watch to show a potential future for Europe if it isn't careful with how it deals with Ukrainian membership

[history]

Greeting from Netherlands. It's amazing how consistently you're able to weave together historical and political perspectives, all relevant to an intriguing story that has a clear message about what we should do in the future. Thanks a lot and keep it up!