UK rapeseed production in sharp decline

Facing record-low plantings of rapeseed at 240,000 hectares, the United Kingdom is forecast to produce just 720,000 tonnes of the oilseed in marketing year 2025-26, according to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture. The FAS outlook, if realized, compares to 824,000 tonnes in 2024-25 and 1.2 million tonnes in 2023-24. Hectares have seen an equally dramatic slip from 391,000 in 2023-24 and 293,000 in 2024-25. For 2025-26, stocks are forecast to remain slightly under 90,000 tonnes, roughly the minimum needed to provide security of supply to the country’s crushing plants, with the low carryout figure a result of the domestic crop’s decline. “Growers have become disillusioned with rapeseed after suffering from low yields, poor growing conditions, and pest pressures in previous years and have consequently turned to alternative land uses with more reliable returns, such as guaranteed contractual payments from UK agri-environment ...