A snowy winter, a wet spring, a scorching June — and as a result, a grain harvest close to a record high. It seemed as though nature had taken pity on the Crimean farmers, but not everything in their lives depends on nature. One and a half million metric tons of grain — grown and harvested — turned out to be unwanted. Formally, Russia remains the world’s leading wheat exporter, but shipping it through the Black Sea and Azov ports has become practically impossible. And transporting Crimean grain to the Baltic Sea is too expensive and dangerous. Therefore, everything harvested in Crimea will remain in Crimea. And this is a disaster, say the farmers.

“We did the math: our cost per metric ton came out to 14,000, because, as you remember, diesel fuel was that expensive (the price of diesel fuel reached 450 rubles per liter in the summer — Ed.), and now they’re offering us 6 rubles per kilogram of wheat. And we’ll have to accept it — because the price won’t go any higher, and we still need to plant winter crops. Or do we no longer need to? It’s a dead end, to be honest,” says Zarina, a co-owner of one of the farms in the Simferopol district, sharing her despair. 

For Mikhail, the time for despair has already passed. The barley in his fields near Dzhankoy withered back in July, dried up, and… fell off the stalks. The farmer says he had the chance to buy fuel, but only at sky-high prices. So he feared he wouldn’t be able to recoup his costs — and left the grain in the field.

“He who doesn’t take risks doesn’t drink champagne, but I don’t drink it anyway,” Mykhailo laughs. “I didn’t take the risk — and I don’t regret it. Of course, I wondered if I was doing the right thing. But when I started calculating how much that grain would cost me, I realized that it was more profitable to let it go to waste now than to spend my last bit of money on diesel — only to lose it all anyway. At least this way, I’ve got something left to show for it,” the farmer admits.

Even the occupation officials don’t dare to make their usual triumphant announcements these days. “We’ve produced more than we can consume; the surplus is very significant,” admitted Denis Kratyuk, the peninsula’s agriculture minister. And when asked whether Crimean farmers should expect assistance from the Russian government, he gave an unclear response.

“There will definitely be forms of support. We just want to choose the ones that will be most effective. That is, not to receive some huge amount of money for subsidies and then try to convince farmers that this is a good form of support, but rather to provide it when it is actually needed,” the occupation minister stated.

Meanwhile, food prices in Crimean stores continue to rise, and bread is no exception. A loaf of bread from a supermarket, which cost 50 rubles in the winter, now sells for 60. In private bakeries, the price increase is even more significant: the fuel crisis has hit small businesses harder than large enterprises. Even the types of bread referred to here as “subsidized” have gone up in price. Zoya Pavlovna, a resident of Kerch, doesn’t understand why this is happening. 

“With my pension, all I can count on are the blue price tags (goods with a capped markup — Ed.), so I always buy the same kind of bread. In the winter, it cost 32 rubles. Now it’s 39. They tell me it’s because gasoline has gone up. Well, okay, I get that. But there’s something else I don’t understand: you’re talking on TV about record harvests. If they’re record-breaking, grain should get cheaper, right? So why is it that when gas prices go up, bread gets more expensive, but when grain gets cheaper, bread… gets even more expensive?” the pensioner wonders.

Meanwhile, Crimean farmers are holding their breath, waiting for the grapes. Table grapes have already ripened, while wine grapes (which make up the vast majority on the peninsula) are still ripening. A good harvest is expected; the only question left is whether it’s worth harvesting.