Boortmalt has announced a new fixed-price offer for malting barley growers in Ireland, the company announced today (Wednesday, September 19).

In a statement, the company outlined that it is now offering €230/t for the first fixed-price offer for malting barley in 2019.

Growers may fix up to 20% of their 2019 malting barley contract at this price and should contact their local Boortmalt representative by no later than September 30, 2018, to secure this offer.

Meanwhile, Boortmalt announced an increase to its malting barley price for the current year yesterday (Tuesday, September 18).

Following recent negotiations between the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and Boortmalt, the malting company has agreed to top up the final malting barley price paid to growers for the 2018 harvest by €30/t.

There will also be a further additional payment of €10/t for distilling grade barley.

The recent move was acknowledged by the chairman of the IFA’s Malting Barley Committee, Mark Browne.

He said that, despite the negotiation of an improved deal in June, many growers had failed to cover production costs due to poor yields and quality issues arising from the lack of rainfall.

Browne said that, due to the unprecedented weather conditions and the lack of confidence among growers in the sector, Boortmalt was asked to consider these mitigating factors when settling the final pricing arrangements for the 2018 crop.