Global rapeseed acreage is increasing

In Germany, UFOP reports that decreases in area in Ukraine and the EU-27 + UK are expected to be more than offset by increases in other important producer countries in 2021/22 and welcomes the protein plant strategy adopted by the EU and German government. Germany is the main EU country for rapeseed processing, with around 9.0 million tons of rapeseed processed in 2019.

According to the latest information from the International Grain Council (IGC), the global rapeseed area is likely to reach 35.6 million hectares in the 2021/22 marketing year, which is around 1.4% larger than in the current marketing year. The most significant increase in area is expected in Canada. There could be around 8.7 million hectares of rapeseed for the 2021 harvest. That would be an increase of 4.6% compared to the previous year. However, this is still very prognostic as the sowing will not take place until spring 2021. However, the comparatively low Canadian stocks and the high rapeseed prices speak in favor of expanding cultivation.

More oilseed rape should also be sown in other important growing countries in 2020/21. Including India with an increase of 2.8% to 7.4 million ha and Russia with 1.1% to 1.4 million ha.

In contrast, according to research by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), the rapeseed area in the EU-27 + UK is likely to decrease somewhat by 0.1 million ha to 5.5 million ha. An expansion is expected for Germany and Poland, but this will not be sufficient to compensate for the expected decline in France, south-eastern Europe and the United Kingdom. The IGC expects a strong decline of 16.4% to 0.9 million ha for the Ukraine as a result of too dry sowing conditions.