Rapeseed, sunflower or soybean – which oilseed crop has the highest on-farm competitiveness?

This question was analysed in three in-depth agri benchmark case studies for Canada, Hungary and Ukraine. The results were presented during the International Rapeseed Congress in Saskatoon, Canada in July, 2015.

Canada

The most common oilseed in Canada is rapeseed (canola) in terms of area. But there are some advantages of soybeans in comparison to rapeseed shown in the Western Canadian study: They can cope better with wet conditions. Although soybeans are more susceptive to early and late frost, the production risks are lowered by frost-free periods caused by climate change. Through later seeding and later harvest, soybeans prolong the cropping season. The proneness to heating in storage is less compared to rapeseed.

Canola-heavy rotations can be eased by a soybean and linseed mix, which leads to reduced disease pressure and allow the use of different herbicide groups. As soybeans require less direct inputs, they have 30 percent lower liquidity needs than rapeseed. Compared to rapeseed, the return to land is about 60 USD/ha or 45 percent higher. Both, the agronomical advantages as well as the economic performance have led to a fast growth of soybean acreage in recent years which will probably be continued in the future.

Hungary

Hungary´s traditional crop is corn. Soybeans go hand-in-hand with its production, as the late corn-harvest makes it impossible to plant rapeseed. But soybeans have a high weather risk which leads to a high variation of yields. Low yields may lead to weed problems and low N-production.

However a small increase in soybean planting is likely because of the new EU policy providing subsidies for legumes. Until now only on 4 percent of the oilseed area soybeans is grown, while on 70 percent sunflowers and on 26 percent rapeseed is planted. It is easier and less risky to grow sunflowers. But wheat is becoming more important, driven by foreign investors, and thus also rapeseed, which outperforms sunflowers in rotation with wheat.

Ukraine

In Ukraine, oilseeds have seen massive growth in acreage and yields. The “newcomers,” rapeseed and soybeans, soared by 24 percent and 18 percent, respectively, while the more traditional sunflowers rose 3.8 percent between 2003 and 2013. On top-performing, independent farms, where wheat is the backbone of the rotation, rapeseed clearly outperforms sunflowers with a 350 USD/ha or 50 percent higher return to land. In addition, rapeseed is favoured over soybeans due to the timing of harvest.

On an average-performing, holding farm, on the other hand, the return to land is similar for rapeseed and soybeans, but soybeans carry much lower liquidity needs - on the order of 100 USD/ha or 20 percent below rapeseed. At real interest rates of about 10 percent, this will become an important issue for many producers, favouring soybeans over rapeseed. In addition, soybeans require less intensive crop management than rapeseed and therefore are more suitable to the industrial-style production prevalent on holding farms in Ukraine.

The presentations can be downloaded here:

International Rapeseed Congress in Saskatoon, Canada