The organization is calling for additional planting of the oilseed in 2025.
According to International Grain Council (IGC) forecasts, the 2024/25 wold rapeseed output is projected to be 87.2 million tons, a 2% drop from last year due to reduced production areas and lower yields.
Australia, a major producer, is expected to see a continued decline, with its harvest estimated at 5.4 million tons—700,000 tons below earlier predictions and a 4.5% decrease from the previous year.
Ukraine is also facing challenges, with anticipated production at 4.9 million tons, down by 500,000 tons from earlier forecasts due to fluctuating weather conditions.
Western Europe, particularly France, Germany, and the UK, has suffered from adverse weather, including excessive rains and pests, leading to a 5.1% decline in EU rapeseed production, now expected to be 18.7 million tons.
UFOP anticipates rising rapeseed prices and advises farmers to adjust their planting plans for 2025 to align with crop rotation needs.
The growing demand from the biofuels sector, driven by the phasing out of palm oil-based biofuels in Germany, France, and Sweden, is expected to influence rapeseed acreage and crop rotation strategies.
Feed protein gap in Germany
Meanwhile in reaction to the preliminary feed protein balance sheet from the Federal Information Centre for Agriculture (BZL) for Germany’s 2022/23 fiscal year, UFOP urges European, federal, and state policymakers to intensify support for European cultivated oilseeds and protein plants.
The protein gap in Germany is essentially due to a lack of concentrated protein feedstuffs and can be effectively reduced by larger domestic harvests of rapeseed and grain legumes, it stressed.