Smaller German rape area, but with differences in the federal states The Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants e. V. (UFOP) regularly prepares an estimate of the rape cultivation areas in Germany in the November of each year. On the basis of a representative survey, approx. 1,400 rape growers questioned. For the federal territory , the rape area for the 2018 harvest will be reduced by approx. 1.9% lower . Changes are still possible due to unpredictable hibernation damage.Despite a decline of 9.4%, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with an area share of approx. 16% the largest growing area in Germany. Saxony-Anhalt increases the area by 2.2% to just under 162,000 ha, reaching a share of 12.5%. Brandenburg also increases by 2.2%.The other East German countries are also showing moderate rates of increase there. Remarkable are the high growth rates in Bavaria with +9.4% and Rhineland-Palatinate even with 14.6 %. However, there was also a need to catch up. In addition, sowing and emergence conditions in the southern countries were significantly better than in the north.In the northern federal states , on the other hand, it looked significantly worse. The weather has thwarted the cultivation plans. The hardest hit was Schleswig- Holstein with a reduction of rapeseed area by -17%. But farmers in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse also had to back down. For the further development towards the harvest 2018, the weather conditions will have a say in the matter.The winter- and spring weather Decide decisively how well the stocks get into the growing season. It is quite conceivable that the decline in acreage can be compensated for by high yields per hectare.
