The area sown to winter oilseed rape could well be up by more than 50% across the country for 2023 harvest.

Members of the seed trade indicate a possible 30% to 40% increase in the south but this could be as high as 70% in the northeast.

As the northeast is the most intensive-growing region, it is possible that the combined increase could exceed 50% on average for the winter crop, which could see the area push up to 18,000ha to 20,000ha. The area planted to spring rape could add a further 2,000ha in time.

If the total hits 20,000ha or higher, this would be the highest area ever sown to oilseed rape in the Republic of Ireland, but virtually all of this is likely to be exported.

However, if it were crushed here for oil production it would leave 55,000t to 60,000t of high protein feed as a byproduct, which will otherwise be imported as some other type of protein feed.