Boortmalt and IFA have failed to reach agreement on the scale of malting barley prices for 2017. Both organisations met in Athy yesterday.
“I am not unduly concerned regarding the outcome of the meeting,” said IFA Grain Committee Chairman Liam Dunne.
“Our plan is to meet with Boortmalt again on a date – yet to be arranged.
“Matif milling wheat prices are very flat at the moment, so there is no real incentive to fix a malting price at this stage of the season. This is in total contrast to the situation that prevailed this time last year, when there was a lot of activity taking pace on the Matif futures’ market.
A significant proportion of last year’s malting barley crop was forward sold. But, given the state of the market, there is no incentive for growers to go down this road at the present time.
Dunne confirmed that Europe’s 2016/17 milling wheat acreage is on a par with the previous year. But it is still too early to accurately gauge the final output from crops that will be harvested later over the coming months.
“There has been a lack of rain in many of the main growing regions. This factor, combined with little or no snow cover in the same areas, could have an impact on yields later in the season.
“Drought has a much bigger impact on cereal yields, than would the impact of excessive rainfall.”
Dunne said that demand for malting barley and other high-quality cereals used by the Irish brewing industry continues to grow.
“Boortmalt has been working flat out over recent months; Diageo has sourced all of the grain it uses from Irish sources over the past three years.
“All of this is good news for Ireland’s cereals sector. In fact, IFA is keen for Boortmalt to further invest in its Athy operation.”