Germany
January 31, 2018

According to current estimates, the area under winter oilseed rape cultivation in Europe has fallen by approx. 3% compared with the previous year to 7.94 million hectares. The main reason for this is the wet, cold weather in the Baltic region at the time of sowing, and the very dry conditions in south-eastern Europe. Both these factors meant that the countries concerned were unable to sow the acreage of oilseed rape originally anticipated. Germany is thought to have 1.285 million hectares of land currently under oilseed rape cultivation and Poland 0.84 million hectares.

In contrast, oilseed rape cultivation has expanded in all regions unaffected by the climatic conditions. In France and the UK in particular, the prominence of oilseed rape last year was underpinned by moderate prices and good yields. This has bolstered France’s position as Europe's leading oilseed rape producer, with more than 1.5 million hectares of land under cultivation.

All in all, oilseed rape cultivation in Europe remains very stable.

Website: http://www.dsv-saaten.de

Published: January 31, 2018