Summer barley: there's life in the brewery

The European Union (EU) controls approximately 33% of global malting capacity. Half can be found in 3 countries: Germany, France and the United Kingdom (UK). Logically, the cultivation of spring barley is also the largest here; 3 malt houses control 45% of the market and the 17 other companies control the remaining 50%.

Asia is in 2nd place. China has a lot of production, but imports most of the malting barley. North America is in third place. The United States (US) is also importing more and more malting barley from Europe, in order to meet a growing demand from breweries.

Area shift
The wet autumn has meant that less winter grain has been sown, or it has not developed properly due to the poor conditions and cold winter. The area of ​​summer grain in Northern Europe is therefore larger than average. However, spring is not ideal for crop development. Grain pool managers all mention an increased area of ​​spring wheat and barley. In many cases, sowing was done relatively late due to the cold weather.

The Dutch area of ​​summer grain last year amounted to 2.900 hectares. This is extremely little. In previous years this was always between 4.000 and 4.600 hectares. Just like the area of ​​winter grain, summer grain is also decreasing, even more so. The crop is a final item in many construction plans. Customers notice that those who take care of malting barley cultivation are more likely to achieve the set quality requirements.

Brewing premium
As the brewing premium increases, interest also increases; especially when the season offers opportunities. With premiums of €25 or €30 per tonne, it yields better than feed barley and collectors take the trouble to sell it to malting houses. Many people describe this sales as difficult. The game between price, availability and quality is constantly changing. However, due to increasing demand and decreasing acreage, there is a shortage on the market. You can benefit from this. An additional premium is paid for local cultivation.

In addition to the high brewing premiums, the balance is helped by the new malting barley varieties. They yield up to 10% more and are of better quality. 'Irina' and 'Planet' are especially popular. CZAV is even fully committed to the latter. The winter brewing barley variety 'Entincel' is also increasingly grown.

More German barley
The German Braugersten-Gemeinschaft estimates that the area of ​​spring barley in our eastern neighbors will amount to 400.000 hectares this year, a significant increase of 20%. The area usually fluctuates around 300.000 hectares. The state of Bavaria is the undisputed heavyweight with 100.000 hectares, followed by Baden-Württemberg (45.000 hectares) and Lower Saxony (38.000 hectares). RGT Planet is also the largest variety in Germany, followed by Avalon and Quench.

Many German barley fields have a difficult growing season. Sowing conditions were good in Bavaria, but elsewhere it was cold and dry. The drought persisted, meaning that in extreme cases it has already been rained three times. Due to the varying circumstances, it is difficult to get a good idea of ​​the quality and yield. The coming weeks will be crucial for this. The significantly larger area does compensate for a low yield.

Barley acreage is also increasing in the UK; mainly because less winter barley has been sown. An initial estimate is almost 40% more spring barley in the northwest and northeast. The sowing was done relatively late due to a lot of frost and snow. A warm month of May has resulted in significant crop growth. It is now also dry in many places in England and Scotland.

France stable
France did not suffer much from a wet autumn, so a shift from winter to summer grain is not noticeable. Statistics agency FranceAgriMer estimates the total barley area at 1,9 million hectares, compared to 170.000 hectares more last year. However, a higher yield is expected: 6,3 tons per hectare, compared to 5,4 in 2017. In May, the barley stock was 40% lower than in the previous season.