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Besides, with Russia’s shift in its military campaign to the vast steppes of Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions, KSG and others have even less of a solution for the very real danger facing farmers trying to do their job in what has become a battleground.

One way KSG has tried to stay afloat is to focus on the more expensive crops in its portfolio, ramping up production of oilseeds, including sunflower, which remains profitable despite tumbling prices.

Another cash crop is rapeseed, which KSG is able to export across Ukraine’s land borders to clients in France.

But it’s still a risk, said Vasili Gurin, the 42-year-old director at KSG’s farms in Novopokrovka, a village on the banks of the Komyshuvata Sura river, some 32 miles southwest of Dnipro.

Some of KSG’s employees have already experienced those dangers firsthand.