INDIANAPOLIS – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is impacting farmers there and in this country, said Bob White, director of national government relations for Indiana Farm Bureau.

Earlier this month, and after the Russian invasion began Feb. 24, White communicated with a Ukrainian farmer via the internet. The farmer lives in the western part of the country and grows wheat and corn, and raises some cattle.

“There’s a lot of angst,” White reported. “Are his fields going to have bombs or other debris in them? He does have most of his inputs. He’s looking forward to figuring how he’s going to plant this year’s crop. He’s worried where it’s going to go once he harvests it.”

When White and the farmer last communicated, his farm was untouched.

“He’s planning to plant a crop. He was very proud of what his people are doing. Ukrainians have enjoyed their freedom and they have a democracy. They were a part of the Soviet Union for a long time. They’re fighting for (their freedom).”

In this country, farmers – along with everyone else – are dealing with higher prices for fuel, he noted. “Crude oil continues to go up. That market had a glut for awhile. With pipelines shutting down, there’s a shortage. But there’s still that high demand.”

The United States gets quite a bit of fertilizer from Russia and quite a bit from Canada, White said. A train strike in Canada is impacting some potash movements, he said.

Bruce Kettler, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), said there is a lot of concern about fertilizer supply. “Are we going to be able to get that? It appears a lot of the ports and shipping have been shut down or shut off, or severely restricted.”

White said Hoosier farmers are feeling pretty good about this spring. “They’re going to get the inputs they need. Granted, the prices will be higher.”

The USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) released its farm income forecast in February. Net farm income is forecast to decrease by 4.5 percent ($5.4 billion) in 2022 relative to 2021. The net farm income forecast of $113.7 billion in 2022 would be 15.2 percent above its 2001-2020 average of $98.7 billion when prior years are adjusted for inflation, ERS said. Net cash farm income and cash receipts from the sale of agricultural commodities are expected to be up in 2022 over 2021, according to the agency.

White said Ukraine is responsible for a great deal of the world’s wheat and corn. They sell to China and to some European and African countries, he noted.

“Those countries might be looking elsewhere. They will be looking to the United States, to Brazil and Argentina for corn. Anything coming out of that (Russia-Ukraine) area of the world, it’s difficult to find out the status. There’s just so much chaos right now.”

Kettler said he recently read an article that said some politicians have asked USDA to open land in the Conservation Reserve Program to allow farmers to plant on those acres.

In addition to wheat and corn, the Ukraine-Russia region has a lot of sunflower production, he added.

The markets are indicating an increased demand for corn and wheat, Kettler said.

“The question becomes in Indiana, there’s lots of different types of wheat and the uses for wheat vary quite a bit depending upon the type. I think some of that (demand) would just depend on the type of wheat they’re exporting from that region and how it would affect Indiana farmers. There’s no doubt it’s going to affect U.S. farmers.”

Since the invasion began, several U.S. companies, including Deere & Co., Shell, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, have announced they’re scaling back or cutting ties with Russia, according to media reports. “I would imagine every company is looking over all their contracts with Russia and trying to figure out what to do,” White said. “It’s a very chaotic situation. There’s a lot of assessing the situation going on.”

Kettler said ISDA hasn’t taken a position on whether companies should cut ties with Russia. He’s not aware of any Indiana-based agribusinesses that have pulled out.

“If you’ve got assets in that area, I would say at this stage of the game it’s going to be pretty tough to do anything,” he explained. “You don’t want to send people into harm’s way, and based upon what we know, there’s a lot of uncertainty as to whether you’d be able to do any good with it or not.”