RAPOOL Xperience: Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow in Oilseed Rape

Just outside the village of Grabonóg near the centre of Poland, something remarkable is unfolding across 800 carefully managed oilseed rape plots. This isn’t just another demo field. It’s the RAPOOL Xperience Platform — Europe’s biggest oilseed rape production trial platform, and a living laboratory of both the past and future of one of the continent’s most important crops.

Here, RAPOOL’s historical demo plot stretches across neatly ordered rows of oilseed rape — each row a vivid chapter in the company’s breeding journey. From early line varieties to today’s advanced hybrids, the field tells a story of transformation.

But the RAPOOL Xperience Platform isn’t here just to showcase what’s already known. It’s here to challenge what’s possible.

“Farmers are achieving just 20–30% of oilseed rape’s potential yield,” says René Brand, RAPOOL’s International Product Manager. “Growing oilseed rape today with old production systems isn’t working anymore. We need to think differently — we need to test, innovate, and share those insights so farmers can achieve more.”

 René Brand , Productmanager International RAPOOL, speaking in front of a visitor group at RAPOOL Xperience platform

Deep roots, wide reach

RAPOOL was founded in 1974 as a collaborative initiative between several pioneering rapeseed breeders. Over the years, while the group evolved, three core breeding companies — Norddeutsche Pflanzenzucht (NPZ), Deutsche Saatveredelung (DSV), and W. von Borries-Eckendorf — remained at the heart of the partnership. Together, they have built Europe’s largest rapeseed breeding network, driven by deep genetic expertise and a shared commitment to innovation.

"Our company came about because of the independent success of our parent companies, each of which have more than 100 years of history, coming together,” says Dörte Göckede, Product Manager International at RAPOOL. “Just as the heterosis effect in plants brings out the best in plant genetics, RAPOOL’s structure multiplies the strengths of our parent companies to deliver the highest performance for farmers.”

That structure has driven breakthroughs across decades—from early line varieties to the introduction and refinement of hybrid systems, including MSL hybrids and clubroot resistance. With two shareholder breeding programs currently running in parallel, RAPOOL maintains exceptional genetic diversity and breeding agility.

A Decade Ahead by Design

Of course, plant breeding is not a short-term game. As RAPOOL knows well, decisions made today shape varieties that won’t be commercially available for a decade.

“Breeding is only part of the puzzle,” says Artur Kozera, Product Manager at RAPOOL Polska. “That’s why we need to test agronomy and field practices too.”

At RAPOOL’s 13 breeding stations across Europe, breeders are doing just that—testing and refining genetics while constantly scanning the horizon for what’s next.

With a changing climate rewriting growing norms, farmers are already grappling with deeper droughts, later frosts, more unpredictable growing seasons and changing pest pressures, both thanks to increasing pest resistance and reduced availability of crop protection tools. To remain viable, oilseed rape must become more resilient, more efficient, and more adaptable. RAPOOL is tackling this head-on in both the lab and the field.

“You need to understand the problem before you can offer a solution,” says Kozera. “The RAPOOL Xperience Platform exists to give farmers more than just products. It gives them knowledge.”

 Artur Kozera, Product Manager RAPOOL Polska in the RAPOOL Xperience field

From trial to tool: The RAPOOL Xperience Platform

RAPOOL sees technical trials as a bridge between breeding and practice. To that end, it has established a Europe-wide trialing network. At the heart of RAPOOL’s applied research strategy is the RAPOOL Xperience Platform in Grabonóg, Poland. Here, breeding meets real-world farming conditions. RAPOOL doesn’t just test for yield; it evaluates resilience, robustness, and adaptability.

Among the most noteworthy trials in the RAPOOL Xperience Platform are the Runner Segment Trials. Europe’s first commercial winter-spring hybrid, the Runner segment is tailored for flexibility. With a wide seeding window and fast, early development, this hybrid could be a game-changer in regions like Hungary and Bulgaria, where drought during sowing and heat during flowering make traditional winter crops increasingly risky.

“Even with standard winter rapeseed management, the Runner variety ‘FANGIO CL’ kept up with winter oilseed rape varieties,” Göckede says. “Optimized agronomy will take it even further.”

 Dörte Göckede, Productmanager International RAPOOL on the RAPOOL Xperience fieldday

Also underway is an ambitious fertilizer & sowing date trial — Europe’s most comprehensive fertilizer and sowing date study, which explores the effects of two sowing dates (early and late September) in combination with seven nitrogen strategies across multiple rapeseed varieties. Among these are the newest RAPOOL varieties, which are being evaluated for their response and performance under varying agronomic conditions.

“With drought increasingly common, we have to think differently about our fertilizer strategies,” says Kozera. “This is about precision: understanding how timing and nutrition interact with genotype to impact yield.”

RAPOOL is also investing in Resilience Trials, which explore how varieties recover from early-season stress. Using a streetsweeper broom to mimic winter kill or manually removing main stems to imitate pest damage, the researchers aim to assess which genetics bounce back best and under what conditions.

Another risk mitigation project, conducted at six locations across Europe, is investigating the use of growth regulators to manage crop development, aiming to reduce the stem elongation before winter and slow spring growth to lower the risk of damage from late frost. Alongside this, the trial also considers the role of diverse varieties and crop management strategies as tools for mitigating risk.

“With a changing climate, late frost impact is an increasingly important topic,” says Göckede. “This spring in Bulgaria and Romania, for example, we experienced a late April frost of -10°C just as rapeseed was nearing flowering. We need to equip farmers with  practical solutions that support resiliency.”

Additional trials at the platform include focuses on flowering treatment intensity, harvest timing, and biostimulants—all aiming to improve input efficiency and optimize management decisions.

From dirt to device

While RAPOOL encourages farmers to make the journey to see the Grabonóg station in person, it is committed to making insights accessible to every farmer. To that end, RAPOOL has developed a digital twin of the in-field experience. The 360° virtual tool, introduced in late spring 2025, offers interactive trial tours, expert videos, and deep context around the data.

“Trial results are helpful, but they don’t tell the full story,” Brand says. “We want to show farmers what’s behind the results: what’s working, why it works, and how they can apply it.”

That spirit of open exchange was on full display in May, when RAPOOL welcomed farmers, agronomists, and farm service providers from 10 countries to the Xperience Platform for an international field day. The event showcased not only the latest trial insights but also fostered cross-border dialogue about the future of rapeseed.

 RAPOOL Xperience fieldday 15th of May in Grabonog, Poland with participants from 10 different countries

Why it matters now… and tomorrow

RAPOOL stands for responsible breeding — scientifically grounded, practically tested, and always focused on the future. The goal isn’t just to develop varieties that perform well today, but to ensure those varieties are ready for the unpredictable seasons ahead.

That mission has never been more urgent. As climate pressures mount and input resources tighten, rapeseed’s future depends on resilience, profitability, and adaptability.

“We’re not doing this just to develop seed. We’re doing it so farmers can keep rapeseed profitable in a changing world,” Brand says. “The goal is simple. Test what works. Share what matters. Help farmers grow better.”

That’s why RAPOOL is pushing forward. Next season’s trials will explore whether increased plant densities can offset fewer pods per square meter, and investigate sulfur application in autumn — an underused but promising strategy for boosting performance.

With more than 120 years of breeding behind it, RAPOOL isn’t standing still. It’s moving with purpose, combining deep-rooted experience with a clear-eyed focus on what farmers will need next.