A drop in EU rapeseed production next year has been forecast following a meeting of the European farmers’ organisation Copa-Cogeca.
The body’s oilseeds working party says the neonicotinoid seed treatment ban is already beginning to have an effect and growers are now turning their backs on a crop that is now harder to grow.
The ban on neonicitinoid insecticides applied to seed has had little effect on crops in Scotland largely thanks to the weather not being favourable for attack by flea beetle.
Growers in the east of England have, however, reported total crop loss in some cases despite spraying several times with the organophosphates which are now the only approved insecticides available.
Newly elected chairman of the oilseeds working party, Arnaud Rousseau, from France, said: “The situation is problematic and it is expected to get worse, causing job losses especially in rural areas.
“In Finland, a big fall in the rapeseed area has been reported, forcing some farmers to stop producing and causing rapeseed crushing plants to shut down.
“The situation is also particularly bad in Germany, a major oilseed producer, estimating a one-million-tonne cut in rapeseed production for next’s year’s harvest, compared to this year’s.
In Spain, another big producer, a cut in oilseed and protein crop production is foreseen together with a drop in the surface area for sunflowers but final figures still need to be confirmed.
While in the UK, a new study produced by the NFU predicts a 36% drop in farmers’ income as a result of the ban and pesticide bans.
In Italy and my own country, maize producers have also been “badly affected”.
He continued: “The problem is no alternative tools for crop protection exist for the spring varieties and crops are being decimated by flea beetle attacks.
“More and more farmers will not produce oilseeds anymore as it would be too risky if the two-year suspension for neonicotinoid treatments becomes permanent.
“The issue will be a top priority for me in my two-year mandate as chairman of the Oilseeds and Protein Crop Working Party”.
Mr Rousseau is an oilseed and protein crop producer in France and vice-president of the French Oilseeds and Protein Crop Federation (FOP).
The EU 2014 oilseeds harvest totalled 34.4m tonnes (mt) with the 2015 crop forecast to reach 32mt.
The figures are very provisional and must be treated with caution as not all member states have yet submitted final estimates.
The cut is expected to be much worse.
The continued loss of crop protection products is also having an effect on the EU cereal crop.
New figures for 2015 EU cereals harvest released by Copa-Cogeca show a slight drop for next year.
After a bumper harvest in 2014 estimated to reach 322.4 mt, wheat exports require to carry on at a good level and grain storage capacities have been used to their maximum.
New estimates for EU cereals plantings next year meanwhile show production to be down slightly to reach 305mt.
Copa-Cogecas’ Cereal Working Party chairman, Max Schulman, said: “Our bumper harvest this year was confirmed, totalling some 322.4 million tonnes.
“But quality was down in some member states, with producers confronted by unpredictable weather conditions”.
“With many crop protection products being steadily phased out, many of our members have serious worries about the lack of crop protection products available on the market,” he said.
“Next year, plantings are expected to be down slightly by 0.9% with a 5.3% cut in production expected.
“It is therefore vital to have a good toolbox including disease resistant plants, new and better varieties, research and development, good plant protection products.
“Plant protection products are crucial in order to get the maximum potential from our crops and ensure that we can meet rising food demand.”