Farming Makes a Comeback in Russia

Investors are pouring billions into agribusiness—and trying to reverse decades of Soviet mismanagement Russian land averages $400 per acre—10% of the cost in France Zhuravlev Ivan/Tar-Tass/Corbis USMAN, RUSSIA Under a baking sun, two green combine harvesters trundled across a vast expanse of yellow barley, unloading their grain into waiting trucks. It was a bumper harvest in Usman, a rural district some 300 miles south of Moscow. Yields of barley almost doubled this year. And there was plenty more to come. On the endless plains of southern Russia this summer, wheat, corn, and sunflowers towered high above the rich black soil for mile after mile. Just four years ago the same fields sprouted nothing but wild grasses. Although this land had been farmed for centuries, the tradition nearly died out in the 1990s. The Soviet... [read full story]