Farmer’s Day in Ukraine Date in the current year: June 19, 2024

The Law of Ukraine “On Farmers” was adopted in order to create the conditions for the production, processing and sale of agricultural products by Ukrainian citizens, as well as to ensure the rational use and protection of farm lands and legal, economic and social protection of Ukrainian farmers. It outlines the legal, economic and social foundations of the establishment and functioning of farms as a form of entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector.

The draft of a decree establishing Farmer’s Day was developed by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine back in 2017. The Cabinet of Ministers approved it, but the decree could not enter into force without the President’s signature. President Petro Poroshenko never got to sign the decree before the end of his presidential term. It was his successor, President Volodymyr Zelensky, who finally signed it in June 2020. So the inaugural Farmer’s Day in Ukraine was celebrated on June 19, 2020.

The main task of Farmer’s Day in Ukraine is to facilitate the development of the farming movement, which plays an important role in ensuring food security and preserving the Ukrainian village. As of 2020, there were over 33,000 farms in Ukraine (which constituted about 70% of the total number economically active agricultural enterprises). However, their production and social potential remains unrealized, therefore, government support of farmers is extremely important for the development of the country’s agricultural sector.

The main reason why it is hard for Ukrainian farmers to compete with medium and large agricultural enterprises is a lack of working assets and the high cost of credit resources, which makes it difficult for Ukrainian farmers to expand and update their material and technical resources, as well as gain full access to the latest technologies, breeding techniques, modern fertilizers and plant protection products.

This is why the Ukrainian government has approved the Farms and Agricultural Cooperation Development Concept, which provides for stimulating the creation and development of farms, creating favorable conditions for the development of organic farming, stimulating the development of livestock farming, promoting the development of agricultural cooperation, and resolving legal issues in land matters.

It is expected that the implementation of the concept will result in the increase in the number of farms and agricultural cooperatives, as well as the number of new jobs in the agricultural sector (up to half a million).

In addition to Farmer’s Day, Ukraine also celebrates Agricultural Workers’ Day. Its date – the third Sunday of November – migrated to the Ukrainian calendar from the Soviet calendar of professional days. It was officially adopted in independent Ukraine in 1993.