According to UN data, the total area under wheat cultivation in Russia continues to decline. This is most likely due to the low profitability of grain crops.
Experts from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) believe that the trend that has been observed in Russia in 2026—namely, a gradual reduction in the area under wheat cultivation—will continue.
It is noted that agricultural producers are increasingly choosing other crops, such as oilseeds, over grain.
This is because such crops can generate more profit per square meter than grain.
Russian experts fully agree with these forecasts. They believe that 2026 could be a historic year: this year, the total area under sunflower cultivation in the country could exceed the total area under wheat, something that has never happened before.
It is expected that these figures could equalize at 11 million hectares this season.
In the future, if the situation continues, it’s quite possible that the total area under sunflowers will steadily increase, while that under wheat will decrease.
As a result, the gap between these crops could steadily widen in favor of sunflowers, some experts predict.
Interestingly, Russia isn’t the only country that appears to be experiencing this trend.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global wheat production could easily decline by approximately 3% in 2026, reaching approximately 810 million tonnes.
Experts emphasize that this trend isn’t related to any weather extremes; its main cause is precisely the reduced profitability of grain production compared to other crops.
As for Russia, it’s expected that approximately 43 million hectares of grain will be sown in 2026.
This means that this figure is expected to decline by approximately 1% this season. This is significantly more modest than the previous year, when producers reduced grain production by 5%.
However, given that this trend has been ongoing for several years and shows no signs of stopping, the final reduction in grain acreage could be quite significant.
Some experts emphasize that sunflowers could also be farmers’ response to climate change.
In recent years, southern regions have increasingly faced droughts, which wheat withstands much less well than sunflowers.
If this trend continues, many producers will likely choose to switch to this crop to reduce their risks and minimize losses.
