Farms in Ukrainian southern and central regions have harvested the first 143,000 hectares of grain as of June 18, gathering a total of 381,000 tonnes, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday. The volume includes 374,000 tonnes of barley and 7,000 tonnes of wheat, it said in a statement. Agriculture consultancy UkrAgroConsult said last week farms had started 2014 grain harvesting a few weeks earlier than in 2013 due to an early spring.