The farmers from Germany have set up an arable farm with 1900 hectares in western Ukraine. After the Russian invasion they had to leave the country.
Dusseldorf German farmers Torben Reelfs and Tim Nandelstädt lived and worked on their farm in western Ukraine for thirteen years. They grew grain and oilseeds on 1,900 hectares near Lviv (formerly Lemberg) with 25 employees. Then came the Russian invasion.
“As usual, we were sitting with our employees for the morning meeting when a fighter jet thundered over our fields,” reports Reelfs. A cruise missile flew over a neighboring courtyard and hit an airfield.
The farmers packed the essentials and were able to flee to Poland. They had to leave their life’s work and their employees behind. “Our people really wanted to stay with their families to defend their country. Ukrainians are brave and strong. That moves and impresses us a lot,” says Reelfs, 41.
Both have given their people the freedom to continue working or not. “They want to till the fields as best they can,” says Reelfs. So far, only one employee for roadside checks has been drafted.
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Reelfs and Nandelstädt ended up in the Ukraine by chance and thirst for adventure. They met each other while doing community service. After that, Nandelstädt studied landscape planning. Reelfs, who comes from a farm in East Friesland, studied agriculture. In 2007 they both did an internship in Ukraine and then worked there as harvest workers.
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Two years later they had the idea of setting up a farm in Ukraine. Many fields lay fallow there because the kolkhozes were dissolved after the end of the Soviet era. They visited 50 villages until they found what they were looking for. “Nobody was waiting for us, we had to fight our way through everywhere,” says Nandelstädt, 43.
They each collected 100,000 euros as start-up capital from family and friends. “We would never have been able to take over a farm in Germany with that,” says Reelfs. At that time they paid 17 euros annual rent per hectare, in Germany it was usual from 600 euros.
They started from scratch and had to laboriously clear the fields that had lain fallow for ten years. “After two years we were almost broke, but then we packed it.” Most recently, they grew rapeseed, wheat, sugar beet, grain corn, soybeans and barley on 1,900 hectares. Otherwise, the harvest is transported by train to the port of Odessa, which is now closed, and from there mainly to Arab countries.
25 employees and seasonal workers work on the farm. They all stayed at home and continue to cultivate the fields.
Ukraine is considered the breadbasket of Europe. According to a forecast by the International Food Policy Research Institute, 12 percent of global wheat exports will come from Ukraine this year, 19 percent of rapeseed, 18 percent of barley and 16 percent of global corn exports. These deliveries will soon be missing on the world market.
The expected shortage has driven prices to hitherto unknown heights. The price of wheat has meanwhile risen to over 460 dollars a ton – a doubling since the summer.
Putin’s war is turning into a supply catastrophe, not just for Ukraine but for half the world. “Further price increases due to the war will significantly worsen the food situation for millions of people,” warns Welthungerhilfe. Before that, up to 811 million people were starving. The situation could also lead to social unrest worldwide.
Diesel for field work runs out
Reelfs and Nandelstädt do everything they can to till their fields poorly. After sowing, the fertilizer must be applied. The problem: The diesel stocks are running out, only 3000 liters are left. The two are at odds. Every day they are asked to donate diesel for aid transport. “We did that too. But without diesel we cannot cultivate any of our 900 hectares of summer crops,” says Torben Reelfs. “And for the winter crops we can’t apply the planned crop protection.”
Although the spring sowing and with it a large part of the harvest is as good as written off, they continue to pay rent and wages. Even if there should be peace again soon, there will not be enough money to cultivate all the fields as planned in the coming year.
Ukraine is considered the breadbasket of Europe. Many countries depend on imports from there.
“We are using our remaining financial means to support the freedom of Ukraine,” says Reelfs. They donated 120 tons of bread wheat, a total of five truckloads, for the civilian population in the contested regions. From Brandenburg they organize aid transports to the Ukraine. “We can’t sit still, we have to help somehow,” says Tim Nandelstädt.
There is a lack of everything – bandages, painkillers, insulin, baby food, power generators. With the organization Kultus-verein.de they spontaneously launched a fundraising campaign for the Ukraine. A first convoy brought donations in kind to the Ukraine and took in women and children who had fled. They have organized 50 private accommodations for them. “Our company is a side issue, it’s about peace and freedom,” says Reelfs.
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