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OSR plantings are at 40-year low as the industry searches for solutions

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OSR plantings are at 40-year low as the industry searches for solutions

Rapeseed area in the UK for 2024-25 is forecast to be the smallest in four decades, with industry forecasts pegging the area at 215,000 hectares before next year’s harvest.

Farmers’ co-operative United Oilseeds suggests this would leave the UK with around 663,850 tonnes of domestic crop in 2025; This is well below even the hard crop of 833,900 tonnes in 2024.

Demand for oilseeds remains high and prices have risen in recent weeks; Oilseed rape (OSR) delivered traded between £420/t and £440/t in mid-November.

See also: United Oilseeds maintains profit despite tough year for crop

numbers

  • 833,900 tons UK oilseed production forecast 2024-25
  • 1.9 million tons Annual domestic consumption of UK oilseeds
  • 36% Annual decline in planted rapeseed area

Oil quality bonuses for the 2024 crop have reached the second highest levels on record, helping to deliver growers an additional £6/t margin for the year.

Despite rising prices this fall, pressure from the cabbage stem flea beetle on acreage in previous years and declining yields have caused some farm operations to be wary of growing this crop.

United Oilseeds managing director James Warner said yields from growers were down 8% across the UK for the 2024 harvest at 2.9t/ha, having previously averaged around 3.5t/ha in the 2010s.

“Whilst it is disappointing that yields and tonnages have fallen, I am positive about the future of OSR in the UK.”

He added that the crop had also seen a lot of competition from Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) initiatives last year, with industry figures suggesting around 8% of productive land in the UK went to SFI.

A record import volume of 1.26 million tonnes will be required to meet demand, and domestic consumption is expected to be 1.9 million tonnes.

Mr Warner said the impact of the 2 million tonnes fluctuation in net oilseed trade over the past decade was equivalent to a loss of roughly £1 billion on UK trade.

In terms of self-sufficiency, UK rapeseed accounted for 40% of the edible oils market share in 2016-17 but this figure is expected to fall to just 14% by 2025-26.

A smaller domestic crop also risks creating challenges for future industrial investment in crop protection products, seed breeding and crushers in the UK.

Seed use

It was reported that seed sales in the oilseed industry fell 36% this fall.

Hybrid planting areas fell from 200,000 hectares in 2023 to 122,358 hectares in 2024, while conventional varieties fell by 43% to just 26,000 hectares.

Mr Warner said: “Hybrids make up around 55% of the market, with conventional currently only making up 13%, with the shift from conventional to hybrids really continuing.

“This follows previous poor results from a range of factors that have had a combined impact in recent years, including weather conditions, pest pressure and some business disruptions.”

Seed plantings saved on farms are also expected to decrease, with estimates showing a 60% drop to 11,000 hectares.

However, crop formation improved slightly; Losses so far this year are estimated at 4%, compared to 10% at this time last year.

Restart OSR

United Oilseeds has collaborated with 40 industry partners on a project to revitalize the UK oilseeds sector and tackle some of the challenges affecting the crop.

One of these initiatives has been to install a network of magic traps in key areas to monitor flea beetle numbers.

Oilseeds industry expert Dr Julian Little said the crop was important as a source of pollen and nectar for bees in the spring.

He added that the restart is divided into three key areas – agronomy, policy and breeding – and that it is about achieving a mix of quick wins and long-term solutions.

One of the pain points remains the uneven playing field between growers competing in the UK market; imports are often grown using neonicotinoids, although these crops are banned for farmers in the UK.

But Dr Little said the reboot did not want the neonicotinoids to come back.

An exciting proposal discussed with the government as part of the restart was the potential for future Sustainable Farming Incentive payments for increased oilseed rape due to its flowering benefits.

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