Frosts, drought, war, and Russian “economic miracles” - it seems that almost everything is working against Crimean farmers this year. Almost every one of the farmers we interviewed admits that they have almost no strength left to pull through. Even the occupation authorities recognize that the state of agriculture on the peninsula is critical. But it is in no hurry to help farmers.

In April and May, there were three waves of frosts on the peninsula. After +28 in March, the temperature in the steppe regions dropped to -10. As a result, fruit trees in the Dzhankoy district froze to death. In other regions, the extent of the damage has not yet been calculated, but in total, more than three thousand hectares of orchards on the peninsula have been affected. 

“Late plum varieties and about 20% of different varieties of open-grown grapes have been damaged,” said Yuriy Komov, chairman of the Farmers' Association. According to him, the Bakhchisaray district, which has the largest number of fruit farms, is at risk of losing early varieties of cherry plum, cherry, and peach. 

In recent years, the occupiers have been actively promoting crop insurance among Crimean farmers, including against the vagaries of the weather. “I insured my apricot orchard. I paid as it should be. Now I have paid for the examination again. Now I'm waiting for them to recognize that the trees were destroyed by frost, that frost is a natural disaster, then my application will be reviewed, and then they will determine the amount of insurance payment. I was immediately made to understand that everything would drag on until the fall, at least. If they had given me the money right away, I would have had time to plant something to cover the losses from the crop failure, but what was the point of paying it? I won't be caught in this scam again,” complains one of the farmers in the Nyzhnohirsk district. 

Meanwhile, the long-awaited drought, both atmospheric and soil, is coming right after the frost: Crimea is being drawn into a three- to four-year cycle of water shortages. The volume of spring reservoir filling is a separate nightmare for farmers. They have already announced that they are expecting a record low grain harvest and are urgently looking for ways to save tomatoes, which will simply burn without watering. Even the propaganda media write about 28 thousand hectares of grain and field crops that withered before the beginning of summer. And the occupying Ministry of Agriculture of Crimea was forced to publicly admit that frost and drought had led to a critical state of the peninsula's agricultural sector. However, if an emergency is declared, it will be in certain areas. The head of the department, Dmytro Kratyuk, cynically urged farmers to “properly draw up documents and not waste time.” Only then, he said, will farmers be able to receive support from the Russian budget.

“A leafroller moth to his soul, not documents! It's I who has to drop everything now and run around with papers to the district, then to Simferopol, so that he can ask for more money for compensation. And then, when they allocate, say, half of the requested amount, he scatters all the help on his farms. And the rest will get five thousand rubles (about 2,500 hryvnias) and will be exhausted with inspections,” the owner of a small agricultural enterprise in the Krasnohvardiysk district comments on the official's words. According to this farmer, the drought and frost are not the only challenges his colleagues are facing today. The fuel supply agreements contain a clause on possible price revision in case of sudden changes in the fuel market. “It seems that we all see what is happening with the oil price in the world. Those who are smarter can see the budget deficit that has already been incurred. And it becomes clear that drastic changes can happen at any time. Not to mention the fact that there is only one large oil depot left in the whole of Crimea, which also does not add confidence in the future,” the farmer complains. 

Another farmer, from Kirovsky district, adds to these risks a significant increase in the price of harvesting equipment maintenance. This may be because Russia's leading agricultural machinery manufacturer, Rostselmash, has been suspending production since June due to falling demand from farmers who cannot afford new equipment. “We only have to dream about new combines. Banks are giving such a high interest rate to support farmers that you can buy a space rocket for five years of payments. So, yes, we are working on the old one. But the problem is that Rostselmash also produces consumables and spare parts. And if they go on full vacation, as they promise, the price of scarce spare parts will skyrocket right at the height of the harvest,” the farmer complains.

Other traditional concerns include strict government regulation of crop prices, as well as changes in export and import duties that could affect prices and demand. The occupiers have never been concerned about all these difficulties and the uncompensated expenses of local farmers, and it is unlikely that this year will be any different.

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