German farmers plant less winter wheat, more rapeseed

• German winter rapeseed sowings for the 2020, crop have been expanded by 11.8pc on the year to about 952,000 hectares.
• Germany is the European Union's second largest wheat producer after France and a major exporter.
• Plantings of rye and other minor winter grains were increased by 5.6pc to 670,000 hectares.

Farmers had turned to other crops such as rapeseed, data from the agency said.

German winter rapeseed sowings for the 2020, crop have been expanded by 11.8pc on the year to about 952,000 hectares, it said.

Germany's rapeseed sowings for the 2019 crop were the smallest area in 22 years and the harvest suffered from the summer heatwave, cutting yields and reducing the oil content of seeds. The 2018 rapeseed crop had also suffered from a heatwave.

The agency's rapeseed estimate is above the 1.9pc increase in planted area to 873,000 hectares forecast in November by German oilseeds industry association UFOP.

"Despite the German rapeseed crop suffering two reduced harvests in a row because of heatwaves and droughts, it looks like a lot of farmers have decided to take a chance on rapeseed again," one German grain trader said.

"Wheat prices are also not looking attractive," the trader said.

Sowing conditions in the autumn were generally good. Germany had largely escaped the repeated rain seen in other west European countries which prevented farmers in other areas carrying out their planting intentions.

Germany is the European Union's second largest wheat producer after France and a major exporter.

It is one of the EU's largest producers of rapeseed, Europe's most important oilseed for edible oil and biodiesel production.

Germany's sowings of winter barley, used for animal feed, were cut by 1.0pc to 1.33 million hectares, the agency said.

Plantings of rye and other minor winter grains were increased by 5.6pc to 670,000 hectares.

The area used for the feed grain triticale was cut by 3.8pc to 344,000 hectares.