Official and unofficial crop condition reports from Ukraine are bullish with 90% plus of winter grains in the good to excellent category. Autumn rains helped establishment and those crops are now by and large safely tucked up under a blanket of snow.
A different situation is emerging further east in Russia.
A recent and rapid drop in temperature has coincided with no snow cover in several grain growing regions.
Low temperatures with little in the way of protective snow will result in higher than normal plant death and a corresponding drop in yield.
So in a nutshell; Ukraine is set for a bumper 2013 harvest and Russia is set for a catastrophic 2013 harvest.
But it is only January and there is a lot of season yet to go.