UK rapeseed production in sharp decline

Published Apr 14, 2025

Tridge summary

The United States Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service has forecast a significant decrease in the UK's rapeseed production for the marketing year 2025-26, with an anticipated drop to 720,000 tonnes from 824,000 tonnes in the previous year. This decline is due to low plantings and poor growing conditions, leading to a reliance on imports to meet crushing facility requirements. The UK is projected to import 1.06 million tonnes of rapeseed in 2025-26, with the European Union and Ukraine being the primary suppliers. Additionally, the country's livestock industry's recovery is expected to boost demand for rapeseed meal and soybean meal, necessitating substantial imports of these feed sources. Argentina is the main supplier of soybean meal to the UK, benefiting from its competitive pricing and high protein content. This situation will be discussed at the 23 International Conference BLACK SEA GRAIN.KYIV, scheduled for April 24 in Kyiv.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

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 ...

Source: UkrAgroConsult