Drought could cut French rapeseed area by 10–15%

EU rapeseed area in 2027/28 could decline by around 2% after drought disrupted the late-summer planting campaign. According to Expana, the area could fall from 6.4 mln ha in 2026/27 to around 6.3 mln ha.

The sharpest decline is expected in France, where rapeseed area could drop by 10–15%. The country is experiencing its worst soil drought on record, while forecast rainfall may arrive too late to complete sowing.

Before weather conditions deteriorated, European farmers had planned to expand rapeseed area again due to high prices. However, the lack of moisture has changed those plans and is already creating supply risks for the next season.

Expana also cut its estimate for the EU rapeseed harvest in 2026/27 to 19.8 mln tons from 20 mln tons a month earlier due to weaker yields in Germany and Poland. Its soybean crop forecast was reduced to 2.3 mln tons from 2.6 mln tons because of drought.

At the same time, the EU sunflower seed production forecast was raised to 9.7 mln tons from 9.5 mln tons on higher estimates for Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. Expana also lowered its forecast for rapeseed imports from Ukraine due to Black Sea disruptions and cut expected crushing demand because low Rhine water levels are constraining supplies to German processors.

Tags: France, rapeseed, sown area