Since 1870 we’ve lived and breathed malting. With this passion and expertise, and by combining traditional and modern techniques, we create an impressive range of malted and non-malted products, including several unique and exclusive barley malts.
There is nothing more we love than talking to brewers and distillers so if you have any questions, or would like to arrange a call with a member of our team, please feel free to get in touch – we would love to hear from you!
It has been a difficult growing season for our barley crop in 2024, with wet weather throughout the season. October and November saw up to 200% of the average rainfall, resulting in difficulty in planting. Winter barley tonnage was reduced due to difficulty getting into the fields with machinery. The rain continued through to April, resulting in late planting of spring barley in both England and Scotland.
The wet weather is still ongoing, with the UK seeing more rain over the last couple of weeks, with more forecast in the coming days. This has delayed the winter barley harvest in England, which is starting to ripen, leaving farmers waiting for a dry spell. We have seen the first load of winter barley over our weighbridge at Great Ryburgh today. It has high moisture but reasonable grain size. However, it is likely that overall, the winter barley will be variable in quality, with some reports of thinner grains elsewhere. Spring barley has been battered a little bit by some of the storms that we have seen across the country, with some barley lying flat and bending, having been pushed over by the wind.
Despite this, we are optimistic about the spring barley quality, with harvest a few weeks away. In summary, we are expecting an average year in terms of yield and quality, which is an improvement on the 2023 crop, but some sunshine would be much appreciated in the coming weeks.
The rain is not isolated to the UK and can be seen across Europe. This has resulted in poorer crop ratings, with higher proteins due to lower yields. Harvest is underway in France, with winter barley and autumn planted spring barley yielding approximately 10% lower than the five year average. Although yields are down, the quality of the available barley is of usable quality. It is expected that we will see a similar story across Denmark and Sweden. The Poland has seen a reasonable harvest so far, with good quality winter barley taken into our site in Bydgoszcz.
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