German rapeseed plantings for 2025 crop are little changed

The German oilseeds association UFOP estimates that the planted area of winter rapeseed in Germany for the 2025 crop will be similar to the 2024 crop, reducing by 40,000 hectares from the 2024 harvest to between 1,05 million and 1,09 million hectares.

This is the first accurate estimate of the plantings of rapeseed in Germany for the next harvest.

It said that despite the autumn rains, Germany's rapeseed is in "good to excellent" condition. This puts rapeseed at a good state for winter.

The association stated that some farmers chose to plant less rapeseed in the 2025 crop due to the disappointing yields of the summer 2024 crop when crops were affected by heavy rains and repeated rainfall.

It said that despite the good weather conditions for planting rapeseed, there were only a few problems due to dryness.

The majority of Germany's sowings had been completed before the repeated rains that hit West Europe in September/October. Only minor areas need to be resown.

The rainy season this year has caused concern.

France has a large number of farmers who sow grains and oilseeds.

Germany and France are the two largest producers of rapeseed in Europe. Rapeseed is used to produce edible oil, animal feed, and biodiesel. (Reporting and editing by Michael Hogan)

(source: Reuters)