German Federal Statistical Office expects increase in rapeseed hectarage in Germany

The rapeseed area in Germany has been expanded in nearly all German states, reaching a total of 1.1 million hectares. Declines were only recorded in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia. This is the result of the latest forecast published by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

In its mid-November 2024 estimate, the Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen e.V. (UFOP) anticipated a decline of several 10,000 hectares in area sown with winter rapeseed, projecting a total of 1.05 to 1.09 million hectares. The association attributed the reduction in planted area to insufficient price incentives for crop rotation planning, adding that traders and processors should set the required price signals well in advance of sowing.

The UFOP also pointed out that, due to increasing demand for biofuels production – particularly as palm oil becomes less available as a feedstock – rapeseed is currently in high demand, and this trend is expected to continue. By 2023, the demand gap is set to widen and rapeseed, particularly rapeseed oil, will be needed as an “iLUC free” feedstock to close the gap. By way of a qualification, the UFOP has emphasised that feedstock potential is dependent on crop rotation restrictions. It is widely acknowledged that rapeseed can be grown every four years to ensure resilience and sustainability in arable farming.

The UFOP views both the result of its own estimate and the forecast by the German Federal Statistical Office as initial guidance for the 2025 harvest area and as a first yield estimate. The rapeseed acreage estimated by the German Federal Statistical Office translates to a 2.3 per cent increase compared to the previous year, which would represent the second largest winter rapeseed acreage since 2018.

Based on the area sown with rapeseed and average yields over the past five years, Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft mbH (AMI) has estimated the rapeseed harvest at just over 4 million tonnes. The UFOP has emphasised that the area sown is, by nature, not the same as the area harvested. The importance of rapeseed cultivation in eastern Germany is noteworthy. Just over 55 per cent of the German rapeseed area is located in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia.