The Irish Grain Growers Group (IGGG) has stated that a price of €210/t is needed to make malting barley as profitable as winter wheat.
The connection to winter wheat comes from the Teagasc/Boortmalt joint programme, the aim of which is to make malting barley as profitable as winter wheat.
The group, which sent a statement to AgriLand, said that the system of connecting the Irish malting barley price to the Free-On-Board (FOB) Creil two-row malting barley price was failing.
The IGGG stated: “This system is proving again to fail growers where the FOB Creil price is linked to Irish malting barley. We are all fully aware that the area under spring barley is going to rise considerably this spring.”
Continuing on, the group said: “We welcome the expansion at Boortmalt’s plant in Athy, but premium grains must command premium income for the farmer.”
The group also encouraged other buyers of malting barley to expand their business.
Boortmalt expansion
Last week, Boortmalt announced that its new maltings plant had taken its first batch of barley at its plant in Athy, Co. Kildare.
The new plant will produce an extra 40,000t of malt on the site and require approximately an extra 50,000t of malting barley.
This will bring the entire requirement of malting barley for the Athy plant to 180,000t.