Weather conditions this season promise a rich wheat harvest, with expectations of a good crop overall. However, farmers are dissatisfied with the purchase price being offered, which ranges between 17 and 19 dinars per kilogram—about five dinars below what producers calculate as a fair price, reports RTS.
The Ministry of Agriculture announced that it will intervene by requesting the Commodity Reserves to buy part of the crop at an incentive price. Above-average yields have almost guaranteed that no one will be satisfied with the purchase price, especially during this critical time of year when farmers expect to receive their first payments.
Agronomist Aleksandar Jurišin stated that harvesting is expected to begin around June 20, starting with rapeseed, followed by barley, and then wheat. He also noted that more land has been sown with small grains compared to last year, forecasting a high yield this season, with some fields potentially reaching eight to nine tons per hectare.
Farmers like Branislav Cukić from Baranda say they will likely hold off on selling their wheat, waiting for prices to rise to 23 or 24 dinars per kilogram to make a profit. Aleksandar Lukić from Stepojevac explained that he stores some of his wheat and sells depending on the price or his financial needs, such as paying bills for raw materials and other expenses.
Globally, wheat production is also expected to be above average according to major monitoring agencies, which also predict an increase in global consumption. This means there is no strong justification for a drop in wheat prices despite a good harvest.
On international markets, wheat currently costs about 200 euros per ton, while in Serbia the price stands at 17 to 19 dinars per kilogram. Agro-economic analyst Žarko Galeta pointed out that Serbia is likely to have a crop exceeding three million tons, which will increase supply and could push prices to about 20 dinars per kilogram around harvest time. Last year, the price at harvest was about 21 to 21.5 dinars. He recommends that producers who can financially afford to wait should hold off selling now and wait for a price peak in November or December.
As usual, the biggest earnings will go to farmers with the largest yields, most acreage, and their own storage facilities. In Serbia, however, about 120,000 farms sow wheat on less than five hectares each, limiting their ability to benefit from market fluctuations.
These smaller farmers hope that a system of public warehouses will start functioning properly to prevent abuses of commodity records. They also hope the state will intervene by buying part of the crop this year at 10 to 15 percent above market price. Additionally, there is a call for Serbia to stop being one of the few countries where buyers are not required to classify wheat by quality groups.
Čedomir Keco from the Agroprofit association noted that few farmers sort wheat by quality groups, and even those who do are often not credited accordingly by buyers. He emphasized the growing role of agricultural cooperatives in wheat purchasing, although they still lack the capacity for full quality sorting, which should be addressed since nearly 1,000 cooperatives participate in seasonal wheat purchases.
Serbia’s annual wheat consumption, including necessary reserves, is about 1.2 million tons, of which approximately 850,000 tons are processed into bread flour. Meanwhile, bread consumption per capita is declining, currently estimated at 86 kilograms per year.
