Germans and French grow more rapeseed in 2026

German and French arable farmers sowed more rapeseed last autumn. The increase in area is about 5 to 6%, as shown by figures from the statistics office Eurostat. The German arable farmers are scaling up the cultivation of rapeseed further, while the French are increasing the area again after a dip last year. They are the largest rapeseed producers in the European Union, although it is not yet known what Poland has sown in rapeseed this year. The rapeseed cultivation in Poland is strongly on the rise. In 2024, there was a temporary decline in cultivation, but over a longer period, the area has been increasing. In 2025, Poland cultivated rapeseed on a comparable area to the Germans. This amounts to about 1.1 million hectares in both countries, with Germany having a slightly larger number of hectares than Poland. It is known that in Germany, the area of winter rapeseed is increasing this year by 5% to nearly 1.15 million hectares. This means the surface area is more than 50,000 hectares larger than last year. France The French have slightly expanded their rapeseed area even more. According to the latest information, the cultivation in France is growing to 1.34 million hectares. This represents an increase of 6.4% (or more than 80,000 hectares) compared to last year. Smaller areas are expected this year in Lithuania and Spain. In Spain, the cultivation is dropping to 85,000 hectares, while last year more than 100,000 hectares were cultivated. In Lithuania, according to Eurostat, the cultivation is shrinking by more than 20% to just under 280,000 hectares. Swedish arable farmers are slightly increasing their cultivation and this year come together to just above 100,000 hectares.