Commission forecasts decline in EU soybean area for 2023 harvest

The legume area for the 2023 harvest is projected to see a slight decline in the EU-27.

The decrease is especially due to the smaller soybean area.

The production area of feed peas and field beans, however, could be expanded.

According to an initial forecast of the EU Commission, the area dedicated to legume production in the EU-27 for the 2023 harvest is set to decline a good 1 percent to just less than 2.5 million hectares.

Nevertheless, this would still be the third-largest legume area in the past 10 years.

Soybeans have accounted for the largest share since 2018.

At an estimated 1 million hectares, the soybean area will probably drop just less than 9 percent on the previous year but still remain in the six-digit-hectare range.

The EU Commission sees 2023 feed-pea production up 6 percent compared to the previous season at 816,000 hectares.

Field beans are expected to be sown on a 6 percent larger area of around 464,000 hectares.

By contrast, the sweet-lupin area is estimated to shrink 4 percent to 205,000 hectares.

Regarding feed peas and field beans, the 2023 harvests could also increase, depending on weather conditions.

Based on average yields, the feed-pea harvest could increase 14 percent year-on-year to 2.1 million metric tons.

While the harvest potential for field beans is seen to increase 8 percent to 1.3 million tons, the EU Commission estimates the sweet-lupin harvest at 273,000 tons, or nearly 5 percent less.

By contrast, according to investigations conducted by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), the decline in soybean area will probably be more than offset by expected higher yields.

More specifically, the 2023 harvest could hit a record at 2.8 million tons, which would be an increase of nearly 16 percent on 2022.

“With a view to the national arable farming strategy, the UFOP has urged to render the strategy visible by means of advanced crop-rotation concepts and cultivation methods,” UFOP stated. “This could be achieved by assessing the holistic approach of ecosystem services also in monetary terms. Such assessment would add an economic price tag to society’s demand for more biodiversity in crop production. The UFOP has underlined that this is a necessary requirement for expanded crop-rotation systems that include protein crops to develop into an economically sustainable component in arable farming, also in terms of business assessment.”

According to the UFOP, however, consumers ultimately decide at the point of sale whether such “binding” of land—as discussed in the Farm-to-Fork Strategy of the European Commission—and effort are in fact wanted and rewarded.

Just how much perseverance it takes is also reflected in the “LeguNet” demonstration project, which is funded by the German Ministry of Agriculture and in which the UFOP is involved as a project partner.

On the European level, the association welcomes the EU Commission’s deliberations to develop the European protein strategy into a comprehensive, holistic approach.

According to the UFOP, such approach should include both the direct use of vegetable protein as a source of protein for human nutrition and its indirect use via animal feeds, from which the livestock sector would stand to benefit.