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 earlier in the year and abundant rainfall have fuelled 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 tonnes.
This will translate to a 406,000 tonne 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 tonnes in its April forecast.
Germany is forecast to see a harvest of just less than 4.1 million tonnes, 179,000 tonnes less than the previous year.
In Poland, the harvest is anticipated to drop round 198,000 tonnes on 2023 to just less than 3.5 million tonnes. In Romania, the decline is expected to be slightly sharper at 206,000 tonnes to 1.7 million tonnes.
The Czech Republic, Denmark and Slovakia are also forecast to bring in smaller rapeseed harvests.
By contrast, France, the EU’s current number one rapeseed producer, is seen to harvest round 166,000 tonnes more than in 2023, namely 4.4 million tonnes.
According to investigations conducted by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, Lithuania and Hungary are also likely to get larger harvests.