With unsold grain piled high, a Polish farmer faces an uncertain future as war in Ukraine grinds on
Polish farmer Piotr Korycki says his business has been badly destabilized by Russia’s war against Ukraine and that the European Union is only adding to his problems
CYWINY WOJSKIE, Poland — Piotr Korycki picks up a handful of wheat and watches as the yellow grains run through his fingers.
All around him, grain is piled high in a warehouse on his farm north of the Polish capital: hundreds of tons of wheat, rye and corn left over from last year's harvest that he is unable to sell for a profit.
With a new harvest on the horizon, he feels pressure to sell what he has to prevent it from going bad.
“The situation on our markets is really very, very tough," Korycki said. «And if nothing changes, in a year or two it could become critical.”
Korycki’s frustrations have pushed him to help organize protests that have been taking place in Poland for the past three months, part of protests by farmers across Europe. Farmers used their tractors to block highways in Poland's latest nationwide protests Wednesday.
Korycki's yard is filled with huge bales of hay and modern farm equipment, evidence of the changes to agriculture since Poland joined the European Union nearly 20 years ago. The family farms 200 hectares (nearly 500 acres) of wheat, rye, corn and sugar beets.
The 34-year-old, a farmer like his father and grandfather, says his business has been badly destabilized by Russia's war against Ukraine, a result of the EU deciding to allow free trade with Ukraine after the war started.
The disruption of Ukrainian exports via the Black Sea led to a massive flow of grain across Poland's border with Ukraine, driving down prices for food products. Inflation, meanwhile, has caused production costs and interest rates on loans to rise.
The EU
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