Although UK farmers have benefitted from premium prices for oilseed rape in recent years, on the back of increasing yields and the accolades of celebrity chefs who have referred to rapeseed oil as the “British olive oil,” concerns have been raised at the record area given over to rapeseed production this year.

This year, reduced yields from other key producing regions could provide further benefit to farmers in Britain; although 2012 looks set to be a good year for UK growers, frost kill elsewhere in Europe has affected quality and yields in a number of regions, meaning UK producers will be likely to command high prices for their crop.

Farmers have planted 10 per cent more oilseed rape this summer, and the British crop has doubled in the past decade, on the back of increased demand and resultant higher prices; forward prices this year are 40 per cent higher than 2010 levels. However, the crop is more input intensive that those it is replacing, which has sparked concerns.

The increasing oilseed rape area has contributed to a 6.5 per cent rise in pesticide use in the UK since 2005. Environmental organisation Friends of the Earth has warned that the increased use of chemicals, including those used on oilseed rape crops, appears to be having a detrimental effect on the numbers and varieties of bees in Britain.  

The organisation has called for the suspension of some commonly used agricultural chemicals and yesterday experts from the European Food Safety Authority recommended tightening controls and testing on pesticides after finding weaknesses in current methods which could have implications for bees and other pollinators.

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