France remains primary EU rapeseed producer

The EU Commission expects a decrease in rapeseed harvests in Romania, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic in 2024 compared to the previous year.

Freezing temperatures and abundant rainfall have fueled concerns over this year’s rapeseed harvest in many parts of the EU-27.

There are fears of considerable declines in yield.

The EU Commission assumes the 2024 EU rapeseed harvest to reach 19.4 million metric tons.

This would translate to a 406,000-ton drop from the previous year.

The Commission’s expectations are therefore significantly more optimistic than those of the International Grains Council, which estimates EU rapeseed production at 18.8 million tons in its April forecast.

Germany is forecast to see a harvest of just less than 4.1 million tons, 179,000 tons less than the previous year.

Frost, hail and snow following the summery weather conditions in the past few weeks are giving rise to concerns.

The cold temperatures have slowed down crop development.

So far, there are no signs of any significant damage to rapeseed crops in Germany—with the exception of regions where heavy, wet snow fell on the flowering crops, giving rise to fears of losses.

In Poland, the harvest is anticipated to drop round 198,000 tons from 2023 to just less than 3.5 million tons.

In Romania, the decline is expected to be slightly sharper at 206,000 tons to 1.7 million tons.

The Czech Republic, Denmark and Slovakia are also forecast to bring in smaller rapeseed harvests.

By contrast, France, the EU’s current No. 1 rapeseed producer, is seen to harvest around 166,000 tons more than in 2023, namely 4.4 million tons.

According to investigations conducted by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), Lithuania and Hungary are also likely to get larger harvests.