EU soybean production 2022 to hit record level.
EU-27 soy supply is expected to rise this year again, following an expansion in production area. Italy is seen to record the biggest increase.
The soybean output of the European Union more than tripled over the past ten years. According to recent information published by the EU Commission, the 2022 harvest is likely to amount to around 3 million tonnes, which would be up just less than 15 per cent year-on-year. In other words, EU-27 soybean production would reach a new record high level.
Italy is seen to remain the largest producer within the EU in 2022, with 1.1 million tonnes currently projected. This would translate to a 29 per cent rise year-on-year. In other words, Italy’s share in European soybean production is set to rise to just less than 38 per cent.
The Commission also sees other member states’ soy supply exceeding the previous year’s level. France, the second largest EU supplier of soybean, is expected to see a 4 per cent production increase to 457,000 tonnes. Austria’s output is projected at 286,000 tonnes, just less than 22 per cent more than the previous year.
German producers, who harvested a significant amount of soybeans for the first time in 2016, are expected to bring in 136,000 tonnes, around 27 per cent more than in 2021.
This means that German output would have more than tripled over the past six years. By contrast, Romania’s harvest, which is currently forecast at 331,000 tonnes, will probably fall 4 per cent short of the previous year’s level.
According to investigations conducted by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), the main reason for the growth in soy supply in the EU-27 is an expansion in area planted.
The European Commission currently estimates the 2022 soybean area at around 1 million hectares. This translates to an expected rise in area of just less than 9 per cent on the previous year and would set a new record.
The Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP) has expressly welcomed the positive development of European soybean farming, because it provides many farmers with a further crop to expand crop rotation and meet the growing demand for regionally produced products.
At the same time, the association has pointed out that there is still significant need to invest in soybean breeding in order to come up with regionally adapted and competitive varieties. The new breeding technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas, could go a long way towards making such varieties available.
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EU soybean production 2022 to hit record level, June 28, 2022
