EU's 2015 rapeseed harvest second biggest despite 10% drop from 2014

With a drop in plantings and yield, EU's rapeseed harvest is expected to decline by more than 10% in 2015.

However, Strategie Grains observes that the harvest would still be the second biggest ever for the bloc. In fact, EU may witness a harvest of 21.6 million tonnes, according to the group's first forecast for rapeseed production next year.

Although at about the same level of the 21.63 million tonnes achieved in 2009, the figure is a 2.5 million tonne slide from 2014's record harvest. Strategie Grains identifies the cause as expectations of lower sowings which were down 200,000 hectares at 6.5 million hectares, compared to this year.

A withdrawal in yield to 3.3 tonnes/hectare is also expected, returning to a trend level from the bumper 3.6 tonnes/hectare achieved in 2014.

In the meantime, US-based Lanworth foresees a rapeseed harvest of 22.3 million tonnes next year but taking into account higher sowings of 6.7 million hectares.

Lanworth identifies good weather conditions, adequate rainfall and normal temperature of the April-June 2015 period as factors in pushing output beyond 23 million tonnes.