EU Soybean Crop Falls 21 Percent as Other Legumes Gain Ground
- EU soybean output is forecast to fall 21 percent to 2.2 million tonnes for the 2026 harvest.
- Total EU legume production is set to drop 7 percent to just over 6.7 million tonnes, still above the five year average.
- Field beans are forecast up 9 percent to 1.6 million tonnes, and sweet lupins up 3 percent to 524,000 tonnes.
A shrinking soy crop does not mean a shrinking protein basket, if buyers know where the growth is.
The sharpest drop in the EU's 2026 legume harvest is not in the crop most people worry about. Soybean production is expected to fall 21 percent against last year, to 2.2 million tonnes. A June heatwave and a smaller planted area both took their toll, Biobased Diesel Daily reported, citing European Commission figures.
Set against the whole legume basket, the numbers look less alarming. Total EU legume output is forecast at just over 6.7 million tonnes, down 7 percent on last year but still above the five year average. Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft pointed to reduced soybean area alongside lower yields as the two forces behind the fall, with the heat wave hitting soybeans hardest of the group.
For animal nutrition buyers running European origin or non GM soybean specifications, a 21 percent drop in EU output means a smaller pool of tonnage chasing the same demand. Contracts written against EU grown soy, rather than the wider global soybean meal market, are the ones exposed here. Forward cover for the 2026 crop is worth locking in earlier than usual, rather than waiting on spot availability late in the season.
The rest of the pulse basket moved in different directions. Dry pea remains the largest EU legume crop by volume, at 2.4 million tonnes and accounting for 35 percent of total pulse output. Its own harvest still fell 3 percent, on lower yields despite a slightly larger planted area. Field beans rose around 9 percent to 1.6 million tonnes on an expanded hectarage, and sweet lupins gained 3 percent to reach 524,000 tonnes. For buyers using pulse protein in feed formulation or plant based food ingredients, beans and lupins are the categories where supply is actually growing. That is worth weighing against a soy specification that just got tighter.
UFOP, the German association promoting oilseed and protein crops, has separately flagged that legume growing only holds up in farmers' crop rotations if the economics work over the long term. It wants that reflected in Germany's federal agriculture budget for 2027, now under negotiation. That is a signal that the supply of European grown legumes in future years depends partly on subsidy decisions still being made, not just on weather.
Buyers who treat this as a simple soybean shortage will spend the next few months chasing the same shrinking pool of EU tonnage. Those who look at the wider legume basket, and where beans and lupins are picking up the slack, have more room to manage the cost without changing much else.