Jonathan Lane, trading manager at Gleadell, offers insight into the rapeseed market.

At the time of writing, we would estimate that harvest is around 70% completed and we have heard a significant amount of anecdotes about 6t/ha yields. Even if these are the exception rather than the norm, we feel that we can now safely increase our prediction on national trend yields to 4t/ha and this, in turn, has pushed our crop figure to 2.6mln/t.

This is a record and gives the UK with an approximate 600thd/mt exportable surplus but, with Europe as a whole in a deficit situation, this should provide UK farming plc. with an excellent opportunity.

However, in the short term, the bumper UK yields and the better than expected crops on the continent have combined to put severe pressure on the harvest market. Crushers and shippers spot commitments are all but covered and domestic stores are filling up quickly, and the prices for nearby movement are getting quickly undermined.