RAPOOLs new triple layered variety DUKE also showed very good autumn vigour performance in a contest in the United Kingdom. Due to the strong Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle pressure in UK, YEN (Yield-Enhancement Network, consisting of farmers, advisors and scientists) put a bigger focus in it`s current work on autumn establishment and development of oilseed rape. That`s why they set up an Establishment Beauty Contest where 48 Crops from farmers’ fields all over the UK were submitted to the contest with the aim to understand better what factors support a strong establishment of an oilseed rape crop. The crops were judged by parameters like: Plant Establishment, even plant spacing, uniformity of plant size, plant vigour and plant health. DUKE won the price in the category of normal drilled crops (drilling date 15th – 31st of August). DUKE performed in this field with an „excellent Establishment of 89% and scored the highest marks for all categories“ (source Sarah Kendall from ADAS YEN Network) . That`s why the Crop grown by Stuart Russell in Lincolnshire was declared also as the overall winner of all categories.

With the final MATIF quotation on 2.3.21, the rapeseed exchange price reached the mark of more than €500/tonne for the first time since 2012. Farmers who still have rapeseed in storage should be pleased, especially as the price continued to rise on 14.4. to 507.00€. This means that the actual farmer price, including all bonuses, especially the oil bonus, should also be around €500. Due to the very good oil content of the past harvest of around 45%, farmers were often able to achieve prices 20€/t higher. Mainly 6 weeks later, the frost damages in France have an impact on the new harvest prices. For august the MATIF paris is standing at a price level of 468.00€.

Due to COVID-19 pandemic and sanitary restrictions, RAPOOL Polska prepared a webinar together with top agrar Polska. The goal was to present all the most important elements connected with oilseed rape cultivation: “How to professionally cultivate oilseed rape in the situation of changing agrotechnics and weather conditions”. They presented the situation in the European and global oilseed rape market, the latest achievements of oilseed rape breeding and new offers of rapeseed varieties. The main lecturers included famous scientists/practitioners who presented topics concerning spring nitrogen fertilization and efficient crop protection against diseases. Prof. Witold Szczepaniak of Poznan University of Life Sciences presented issues connected with the efficiency of nitrogen use and summed up the tests conducted together with Rapool concerning the sowing dates, nitrogen doses and rapeseed varieties. The experience shows clearly that new varieties use the applied nitrogen much more efficiently. Prof. Marek Korbas of Plant Protection Institute in Poznań indicated threats in the form of rapeseed diseases and showed us how to combat them efficiently. 

The International Grains Council (IGC) estimates a rising rapeseed harvest worldwide in the coming marketing year from the world’s four largest rapeseed producers, Canada, the EU, China and India. The consumption will remain almost unchanged. According to the IGC estimate, global rapeseed production is expected to increase from 70.4 million tonnes in 2020/21 to 72.8 million tonnes in 2021/22. The IGC bases this forecast on a 2% increase in global acreage, but also on yield increases. At 72.9 million tonnes, global rapeseed consumption is expected to decline marginally compared to the previous year due to strong demand in Asia and Europe. However, it will remain at a high level.

Significantly more insects and insect species can be observed in and around rape fields than in cereal and maize fields, which are almost magically attracted by the bright yellow and intensely fragrant flowers from April to June. Birdlife is also more conspicuously represented in rapeseed fields than in maize or wheat crops. More than twelve bird species now show up in rapeseed during the breeding season. But the yellow plants also exert a strong attraction on mammals: Row deer, red deer and fallow deer as well as wild boar can be observed in the rapeseed again and again. Field hares like to stay at the edges of the fields and on the tractor tracks. Especially for roe deer, the rapeseed leaves play an important role in their diet, especially in spring. In addition, red foxes and badgers like to make their burrows in oilseed rape fields in the agricultural landscape.

Canada exported 3.4 million tonnes canola oil in 2020, 7 % more than in the previous year. The main reason for the growth is the strong increase in demand from Chinese importers, which grew to 1.1 million to or by 26%  compared to 2019. With 1.7 million to, the USA bought a smaller quantity than in the previous year, but is still the number one buyer in a country comparison. Other important buyers were South Korea, Chile and Mexico. The European Union bought 48.200 to, this is remarkable, because the EU had not bought a single tonne of rapeseed oil from Canada in the two previous years. This is caused by the small rapeseed harvest of EU-27. At the same time, Canadian rapeseed oil suppliers were probably motivated to export due to attractive world market prices.