Assuming a decent harvest next year, the prospects for Irish oilseed rape crops in 2027 remain extremely buoyant.

Driving this trend is the outlook for global oilseed prices.

According to the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB), recent weeks have seen prices have seen prices rise amid worries about the situation in the Black Sea and US soyabean crops.

There was also support from US soyabean export sales and higher grain prices.

Global crops

But global supply/demand factors continue to drive the markets.

Snce the beginning of September, the United States Departent of Agriculture (USDA) has reduced home-grown soyabean crop condition scores by more than the market had expected.

As of August 30, 58% was in a good or excellent condition, down from 60% a week earlier.

According to a poll by LSEG, the market had expected 59% this week.

Meanwhile, the European Commission last week cut its 2026 rapeseed crop estimate by 0.3Mt to 19.4Mt, largely due to lower area estimates. This is now lower than last year.

The commission also trimmed its sunflower crop estimate by 85Kt to 9.45Mt as the impact of a larger cropping area has been mostly offset by a lower yield estimate.

Sunflower harvesting is now underway in France with early yields described as very disappointing. 

Crop areas for harvest 2027 also remain in focus, with welcome rain in Europe.

However, Ukraine warned that reduced farm income due to limited exports could reduce the planned areas for all crops to be harvested in 2027 by a quarter.

Significantly, the Australian government revised up its current canola crop forecast to 7.27Mt.

This is still 5.3% smaller than last year’s crop, but 1.09Mt higher than it forecast in June partly due to a larger area than expected.

The conflicts in the Black Sea and Middle East are likely to be key drivers of oilseed prices over the coming weeks.

Irish crops

Winter oilseed rape has been the most profitable crop grown in Ireland over recent years.

Its popularity has been boosted by a combination of strong farmer prices and its invaluable role within tillage rotations.

And there is very prospect of this trend being maintained in 2027.

New season planting got underway in earnest a fortnight ago, with the recent rains boosting the prospect of good germination and establishment rates being achieved over the coming weeks.