More spring barley in Europe possible
The acreage for spring barley in Europe will be larger this year. Regional winterkill made an impact. The real dimension of the enlargement is yet unknown. Furthermore it remains to be seen if brewing barley can be harvested.
Especially in France and in Denmark the growth has been extraordinary. In France, the main area of spring barley was affected by winterkill. The summer crops will benefit from that.
This will also be the case in Germany, where the winterkill was brought up as a reason for a larger acreage of spring barley, too. The damages appear only regional though. Corn and spring wheat, and in some regions millet and soybean could be used as an alternative. Furthermore there is a lack of seeds. Braugerstengemeinschaft e.V., Munich,a German association for malting barley, assumes that the acreage in Germany could even be smaller than in 2011. Whether the partly late sowing can lead to satisfying results remains to be seen
In Denmark it was too wet to bring out winter seed last autumn. Winterkill is not a big topic here. The sowing runs at full blast here. In Sweden and in Finland, market participants expect a higher acreage of spring barley as well. In the south of Sweden, winterkill did some damage to wheat. The sowing of spring barley started by end of March. In Finland, sowing is expected to start by the end of April. In Finland are still wintry conditions.
In Great Britain the acreage seems to be at the same level as it was last year. The cultivation of wheat and rapeseed was extended to the expense of spring barley. In some region there is talk of a reduction of up to 15 percent of barley. On the other hand there is an increase of winter barley cultivation. In Scotland, market participants expect the cultivation of summer barley to increase by 7 percent. Right now there is talk of little moisture in the soil in Great Britain. There were a few rainfalls at the beginning of the year. The forecast is weak as well. Here the plants are in the stage of tillering.
In Austria the size of acreage is constant in comparison to the last year. Apparently the weather is very dry at the moment.
The acreage is expected to be constant as well in the Czech Republic, in Slovakia and in Hungary, though there might be a light increase in the Czech Republic of up to 10 percent. There were no delays during sowing. The conditions are described as good and dry. In the Czech Republic the drilling could even start earlier than normally in some parts. The winterkill has been small.
However, there is talk of a high winterkill rate in Poland. There was no delay of the dates of sowing for summer seed. It is still unknown whether the famers are going to seed spring barley. The problem right now in many regions is the acquisition of seed for unexpected demand.
