The area sown to winter oilseed rape appears to have increased by 25% to 30% in response to the good performance and high prices of 2021.

The current forward price offers for 2022 of around €500/t are also helping.

With an estimated 10,102ha in the ground last year, this could be up at 12,500 or 13,000ha for the 2022 harvest.

There could also be a significant expansion in the smaller spring rape area for the coming year, which could bring the total oilseed area up to around 15,000ha.

This would be close to some of our previous highs.

Any increase in spring planting will depend on the relative prices of cereals and oilseed rape come springtime.

This could be highly dependent on yield performance of the Australian canola crop, which saw increased area driven by higher prices.

While the area change is small, any increase in rape area is likely to mean less cereals for 2022.