Russia enters the 2026 harvest season with a diesel fuel deficit, which threatens both the pace of harvesting and the survival of small farms, UNN reports, citing the Foreign Intelligence Service.
Details
According to intelligence, the problem is most acute in southern Russia, in the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, and the Rostov region, where grains ripen earlier than in other regions. Fuel shortages have also been recorded in the Lipetsk, Voronezh, Tambov, and Sverdlovsk regions, as well as in Yakutia and Bashkortostan.
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The pace of the harvesting campaign is almost three times behind last year's. As of July 1, only 1.3–1.5 million hectares had been threshed in Russia, compared to 4.2–4.6 million hectares on the same date in 2025. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev publicly denied the existence of systemic problems with harvesting, but did not provide any specific figures on the threshed area or gross grain harvest compared to last year.
The fuel crisis is compounded by a reduction in sown areas. As of June 1, spring crops were sown on 11.3% less land than last year, and winter crops on 7.4% less. The fuel shortage increases the risk of missing optimal agrotechnical deadlines. After the grains ripen, only 7–10 days are allotted for harvesting; after that, the grain begins to shed, and rains may prevent combines from entering the field altogether. Representatives of the agro-industrial complex of the Rostov region already estimate possible crop losses due to missed deadlines at approximately 15%
Meanwhile, queues are forming at gas stations, and diesel sales are being rationed: 20–200 liters per customer, and refueling into tanks or other containers is often refused altogether. For comparison, one combine consumes up to 300 liters of diesel per shift, so the established limits do not cover even one full working day.
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Intelligence added that remote areas are having the hardest time. In Yakutia, farmers are forced to travel 200–300 km to purchase the same 200 liters of fuel, an amount sufficient for approximately one shift of equipment operation.
The most vulnerable in this situation are small and medium-sized farms without their own fuel reserves and long-term contracts with oil refineries.
The consequences are obvious: crop losses, deterioration of grain quality, and a further decline in profitability for small producers, for whom fuel already accounts for about 20% of the cost of grain. The highest risks will remain in regions with weak fuel infrastructure, large distances between gas stations and farms, and limited storage capacity