The big winners of this year’s record crop are major producers like Adrian Porumboiu, Culita Tarata and Mihai Anghel. They got record high wheat crops this year, which amount to 330,000 tons together. The production of the three is worth EUR65 million.
Porumboiu harvested 145,000 tons of wheat, 15% more than last year; this is also the highest yield of the last three years. Whereas his wheat crop stood at 126,000 tons last year, in 2009 he harvested 92,500 tons, and 142,000 tons in 2008.
Although many farmers in Romania rush to sell the wheat as soon as they have harvested it, Porumboiu says he will process the better part of the crop in his own facilities. The businessman owns bakery plants, as well as cattle farms. Part of this year’s increase in the value of the harvest stems from the quality of the wheat, which means most of it can be used for bakery products.
Culita Tarata, who farms 56,000 hectares of land via his TCE 3 Brazi company, the largest area of land farmed by a company in Romania, harvested 116,000 tons of wheat this year, almost 30% more than last year. In money terms, Tarata’s output is worth over EUR20 million, according to ZF’s estimates. Part of Culita Tarata’s wheat has already reached milling and bakery companies, while the rest is kept in storage facilities.
Mihai Anghel, who farms 25,000 hectares through Cerealcom Dolj, harvested 66,000 tons of wheat this year, 20% more than last year, and 10% more than in 2009. The 66,000 tons of wheat in his barns are worth EUR12 million if calculated at the current prices on international markets.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)