What's happened to all the rapeseed? Bright yellow flowers disappear from British fields after many crops failed while others suffered flea beetle plague

By HENRY MARTIN

- British rapeseed growers are expected to harvest a small crop this season
- Many hectares completely failed and others have flea beetle larvae infestations
- Reduced production of biodiesel meant an increase in price of rapeseed meal
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

The bright yellow rapeseed flowers that adorn the British countryside have largely disappeared after crops this season failed.

The flaxen dandelion - used to make rapeseed oil - is a common sight on farmland in late spring but has suffered a downturn partly due to flea beetle larvae infestations, Farmers Weekly reported.

Farmers have struggled to control the pest after the EU banned neonicotinoid seed treatments in rapeseed crops six years ago.

A number of hectares of the crop completely failed, and any others that made it through the tough winter months then had to contend with the flea beetle - leading to a very small rapeseed crop.


In Britain, Chloe Lockhart, combinable crops adviser with the National Farmers Union, last year said that cabbage stem flea beetle was a 'huge concern'.

And last year they had 'near perfect conditions for drilling and still crops are being destroyed'.

She added: 'The risk is extreme, it just gets eaten in front of your eyes.'

There may yet be an upside for UK farmers as availability of the old crop is fast disappearing.

This means if the economy starts to get going there will be demand for the limited new crop - meaning a price hike for those cultivating the crop. And there is likely to be added motivation to buy home-grown products.

The crop also had a difficult year in 2018 after a drought hindered the sowing of rapeseed, the European Union's main crop for vegetable oil and biodiesel production, cutting summer 2019's EU rapeseed harvest to a 13-year low.

In France, the largest EU rapeseed producer, oilseed institute Terres Inovia estimated that the rapeseed sown area for this year's harvest could reach 1.2 million-1.3 million hectares, up from 1.1 million last year.

The area harvested last summer was down around 30% from the previous year after drought caused problems with sowing.

Issues in the global economy have also affected the harvest. A reduction in the production of biodiesel has meant a sharp increase in the price of rapeseed meal - with average delivered price last week rising £4/t to £285/t.

Another rise in the value of distillers' dried grains accompanied this increase - with ethanol production from maize falling in the US.

The delivered price in the UK for imported maize distillers' grains last week stood at £255/t - down from £262/t the previous week, but still up from £128/t four weeks prior.

Analysts from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board suggested the recovery in the price of the pound played a part in holding the price of rapeseed from rising as sharply as they did in mainland Europe.

Last September experts predicted that rapeseed sowings in major European producers could increase after a poor summer harvest last year - with restrictions on insecticides causing problems for farmers.