Global rapeseed acreage for the 2025 harvest will be a record – IGC

In its latest estimate, the International Grains Council (IGC) expects the global area under rapeseed to reach 44.1 mln hectares in MY 2025/26. This estimate is 1.4% higher than the current season and will be the largest area under the crop on record, UFOP reports.

After disappointing yields severely limited available production in the EU in the 2024/25 season, farmers in the Union are expected to increase their rapeseed area by almost 4% to 6 million hectares. According to the Council, an attractive price level is also crucial for this.

The prospects for growing in the most important exporting countries are still very vague. In India, sowing and germination conditions in the most important agricultural region of Rajasthan are characterized by drought. The sown area is also smaller and is estimated to have decreased by 7.2% to 3.12 million hectares. In Canada and Australia, sowing will not start for several months, so it is too early to make any estimates. At present, it is expected that the area in both growing regions will expand, provided that demand remains unchanged. In the US, it is also considered possible to increase the area by 8.3%.

According to the research of Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), the decisive factor for this is the growth of demand in the fuel sector due to national legislation aimed at promoting biofuels in road and air transport. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the use of rapeseed oil as a feedstock for biofuels in mid-2024. This decision led to a sharp increase in imports, and thus will increase the area under the oilseed.

Earlier, the analysts of the Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (FAS USDA) also predicted the growth of rapeseed production in China.

Tags: Australia, China, EU, Canada, India, rapeseed, USA, crop forecast