The 2022 winner of the Guinness Perpetual Challenge Cup for Malting Barley Excellence is Paul Delaney, from Borris Great, Portlaoise, Co. Laois.
He received his award at a ceremony in Dublin this week hosted by Boortmalt and Diageo, the largest producer of malted barley in the world and the largest purchaser of malted barley in Ireland respectively.
Paul Delaney from Portlaoise took the top prize at the ceremony, which brought together the best of the 900 or more growers from the main barley supply regions of Ireland and the best seed producers.
Malting Barley Excellence awards
The annual awards acknowledge excellence in malting barley production as well as promoting sustainability in the supply chain.
Paul Delaney received the Guinness Perpetual Cup for Malting Barley Excellence, which has been awarded to barley growers in Ireland since 1954.
Commenting on the win, Paul Delaney said: “It is a huge honour to win the Guinness Perpetual Cup. For those of us who grow and malt barley, this is the highest accolade that we can receive and it means so much to us to see our work and craft recognized in this manner.
“After the recent challenging years, this provides us with a fantastic boost and encouragement to continue our work and keep supplying the high-quality product that we are able to produce.”
The other regional growers who were shortlisted for the overall award were:
- Brian Crowley, Cloyne, Co. Cork;
- Charlie and Cathal Kavanagh, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford;
- Dermot O’Byrne, Rathoe, Co. Carlow;
- Edward Delahunty, Kilmanagh, Co. Kilkenny;
- Garvan Kelly, Barntown, Co. Wexford;
- Isaac Wheelock, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford;
- James McEvoy, Mountrath, Co. Laois;
- John Lombard, Mallow, Co. Cork;
- Larry Murphy, Old Ross, Co. Wexford;
- Michael Kinsella, Marshalstown, Co. Wexford;
- Patrick Kinsella Farms Ltd., Caim, Co. Wexford.
Diageo uses more than 130,000t of barley each year at St. James’s Gate and 300t every day to brew Guinness.
Malting barley
Paul Delaney is a third generation malting barley grower.
“My grandfather William grew malt, as did my late father John. Back 60 years ago, the barley left the farm in sacks. Today we need articulated lorries to do the job,” he explained.
During his acceptance speech, Paul referenced the investment made by Boortmalt in Ireland as a major boost for the native malting barley sector.
He also recognised the ongoing role of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) in effectively representing the interests of Irish malt growers.
Boortmalt chief operations officer, Peter Nallon, also spoke at the event. He confirmed that the company remains committed to securing all of the malting barley it supplies to the Irish market from local growers.
“The latest Teagasc cost and return figures confirm that malting barley will be the number one crop cereal grown in Ireland in 2023,” he explained.
“This was not always the case. For its part, Boortmalt has worked closely with the IFA to develop a payment structure for growers, which meets the needs of the Irish market.
“It was this formula that delivered a record price to growers in 2022.”
Looking to the future, Nallon indicated that the prospect of new Irish breweries coming on stream signified greater opportunities being created for malt growers in the country.
Reflecting on the year that was 2022, he confirmed that malting barley crops were excellent, pretty much across the board.
Minister Pippa Hackett
During her presentation at the awards ceremony, Minister of State, Pippa Hackett, highlighted the enhanced role of the tillage sector as agriculture as a whole responds to the challenge of climate change.
“It is envisaged that the area grown under crops will expand from the current figure of 300,000ha up to 400,000ha over the coming years,” she stated.
“Tillage has an extremely lower carbon footprint. So the expansion of the sector makes absolute sense.
“Drinks exports from Ireland were valued at €2 billion in 2022, up 20% on the 2019 figure. A high proportion of this added value was made possible by the 300,000t of malting barley grown on Irish farms.
“It all adds up to a win-win scenario,” she added.
IFA president, Tim Cullinan highlighted the continuing growth of the drinks industry and the growing success of Irish whiskey around the world.
He also confirmed that malting barley growers play a key role in underpinning the Irish tillage sector as a whole adding that 2022 was an excellent for malting barley growers.
“The excellent weather delivered a record harvest. IFA has been centrally involved with Boortmalt for many in developing a pricing model for Irish growers,” Cullinan said.
“The current arrangement allows growers to fix the price for 40% of their envisaged crops prior to planting. The remaining 60% can be price tracked.
“This pricing model helped to deliver record prices for growers in 2022.”
Grain prices and emissions
Looking ahead, however, the IFA representative painted a picture of declining grain prices with crop inputs remaining at very high levels.
Diageo operations director, Aidan Crowe affirmed the company’s commitment to targeting a ‘net zero’ carbon status across the entire scope of the business.
“This includes a requirement on the part of our suppliers to reduce their emissions levels,” he said.
“With this in mind we have launched a regenerative agriculture programme. A total of 42 farmers are currently involved. And we would be very keen for additional barley growers to commit to the project.”
According to Diageo, regenerative agriculture is an approach to farming that works in harmony with the natural environment to put back more than it takes out.
The extensive, three-year farm-based programme, referenced by Crowe, intends to highlight opportunities for reducing the carbon emissions of barley production.
The key outcomes are expected to include improvements in soil health and its carbon sequestration potential, plus enhanced biodiversity.